WATCH: Jaxson Dart Has Monster First Half as Ole Miss Opens Gator Bowl Lead

Ole Miss Rebels quarterback Jaxson Dart is having a night on Thursday.

Mississippi Rebels quarterback Jaxson Dart (2) warms up before the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union] / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The No. 14 Ole Miss Rebels hold a 24-7 lead over the Duke Blue Devils at halftime of the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, and quarterback Jaxson Dart is a big reason why.

This is Dart's final game in an Ole Miss uniform before he pursues his dreams of playing in the NFL, and he is putting on a show in his curtain call. At halftime, Dart has gone 22-for-29 through the air for 250 yards and two touchdowns, almost perfectly piloting the Rebels offense to an impressive lead after two quarters.

You can view Dart's touchdown passes below, one that went to wide receiver Juice Wells and one that went to tight end Dae'Quan Wright.

We can confirm: Juice is in fact loose.@juicew3lls | #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/k7SGEkPTbk

— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) January 3, 2025

Wright on the money 🤑@DaequanWright | #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/3qnjMLW3tD

— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) January 3, 2025

On top of his passing stats, Dart is also Ole Miss' leading rusher at the half, holding 47 yards on seven carries with a longest rush of 19 yards. This performance shows that the Rebels quarterback is taking one of his quotes from earlier this week to heart.

"There was no doubt in my mind coming in that I was going to play in it," Dart said, "and I'm going to play in it to my full extent."

At halftime on the ESPN broadcast of the game, head coach Lane Kiffin also voiced his approval of Dart and his team's first half performance as a whole.

"I think Jaxson's played really well," Kiffin said. "I thought our defense played really well, outside of the one series. Proud of how we started in kind of a dead environment, and our guys responded really well to the challenge. We've got a lot left to play here and need to come out really physical in the second half."

Dart's first half stats are enough to give him school records in single season passing and total offense set by quarterback Chad Kelly in 2015. He also moved to fifth in SEC history in total offense (passing former Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott) and ninth in SEC history in passing yards (passing former Kentucky quarterback Jared Lorenzen).

You can follow along with Gator Bowl in-game updates here.