Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart exhibited steadiness and late-game poise in his first game since coach Lane Kiffin named him the Rebels' full-time starter.
Tulane quarterback Michael Pratt couldn't get on the field for the biggest game on the Green Wave's schedule after taking a heavy hit in the final minutes of a 20-point victory the previous weekend.
Horton, who'd come off the bench to lead an overtime victory at Houston last season, looked ready early. On Tulane's first possession, Horton hit Lawrence Keys for a 57-yard gain that set up Makhi Hughes' short TD run to tie the game.
Horton's 41-yard touchdown pass to Jha'Quan Jackson gave the Wave a 17-7 lead.
Mississippi's staff had assumed Pratt would play “until we got here and saw them warming up,” Kiffin said. “We didn't really play much different — maybe a little more aggressive with more pressure on an inexperienced guy. But he made a couple plays early and got himself some confidence.”
Ole Miss rallied to score the next 20 points.
The Rebels parlayed a fourth-down stop on their own 35 into a 65-yard touchdown drive, capped by Quinshon Judkins' 9-yard run, tying it at 17 with 6:11 left in the third quarter.
After the teams traded interceptions by Tulane's Lance Robinson and Mississippi's Deantre Prince late in the third quarter, the Rebels drove for Davis' 27-yard field goal and a 20-17 lead.
THE TAKEAWAY
Mississippi: Dart's first TD pass was a 31-yard strike to Harris to cap a three-play opening drive that gave the Rebels a 7-0 lead. The rest of the afternoon wouldn't be as easy, but Ole Miss still posted a convincing outcome by outscoring its host 27-3 in the second half. Kiffin said he doesn't expect Harris' injury to keep him out long.
“It was ugly," Kiffin said. "But it wasn't like we kicked a field goal with 1 second left” to win.
Tulane: Playing a Top 20 team from the SEC close for 58 minutes is a positive sign for the Green Wave, which has yet to play a league game as the defending American Athletic Conference champions.
“That's a really good team that played really hard and obviously gave us a lot of challenges today, just like they've given a lot of people,” Kiffin said about Tulane. “They're very tough up front and their front seven on defense gave us a lot of problems.”
POLL IMPLICATIONS
Ole Miss should move up in the AP Poll after a solid road victory over another ranked team. Tulane is in danger of dropping out of the Top 25 for the first time since last October.