Winning Over Georgia Could Launch Rebels’ Dart in Legendary Status

Jaxson Dart has one goal today and that’s beat No. 2 George at The Vaught. But if Dart and his Ole Miss mates accomplish that always difficult task, then the Ole Miss quarterback will reap the benefits of a monumental victory in another way.

He’ll likely climb higher on the list of potential Heisman Trophy winners. According to BetMGM, Dart is fifth — although a distant fifth — among the Heisman favorites.

Colorado’s two-way star Travis Hunter, a cornerback and receiver, tops the list at odds of +175. Miami quarterback Cam Ward is next at +200 followed by Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel at +300 and Boise State tailback Ashton Jeanty at +450.

Dart is +2000, exactly his odds when the season began when he was in a three-way tie for eighth-best odds with Ward and Riley Leonard of Notre Dame. The lowest preseason odds of +800 went to Gabriel, Georgia quarterback Carson Beck, Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers and Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe.

While Ole Miss has never had a Heisman Trophy winner, five different Rebels have finished in the top four of the voting, on six occasions.

That list includes:
Charlie Conerly, 1947, fourth
Jake Gibbs, 1960, third
Archie Manning, 1969, fourth
Archie Manning, 1970, third
Eli Manning, 2003, third

Archie Manning video highlights:

Eli Manning video highlights:

Archie Manning and Rebs of John Vaught beat No. 3 Arkansas in 1970 Sugar Bowl:

In 2021, quarterback Matt Corral finished seventh in the Heisman voting.

Dart garnered national attention last weekend when he embarrassed Arkansas with a record-setting day in Razorback Stadium. The prolific passer threw for school records of 515 yards and six touchdowns, while completing 25 of 31 throws.

The Rebs routed the Razorbacks 63-31 after dominating the first half to the tune of a 35-10 score at intermission.

It was the kind of performance that can vault a player into serious discussion for the Heisman Trophy, which is awarded to the most outstanding college football player each season.

Southern Cal leads all schools with eight Heisman winners, followed by Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Ohio State with seven each.

Alabama has four Heisman winners, all since 2009 while fellow SEC schools Georgia, Auburn and Florida have three each. Army, Nebraska, Michigan and Florida State also have three each.

One of the best Florida State players of all time was Deion Sanders, who coaches Hunter at Colorado. Sanders’ son, Shedeur, is Colorado’s quarterback and tied for seventh on the BetMGM Heisman list at +5000.

Deion Sanders was known as Prime Time during his playing days in the NFL, when he scored touchdowns six different ways and won two Super Bowls, one with the Dallas Cowboys and another with the San Francisco 49ers.

Coach Prime is in the NFL Hall of Fame. Best he ever finished in the Heisman voting was eighth in 1988. He did make this list as one of the top college players to NOT win the Heisman Trophy.