What Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin said about his QB competition ahead of Mercer game
OXFORD ― Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin has said he would not settle on a starting quarterback until he was certain he was making the right choice. Even if it meant carrying the competition between Spencer Sanders and Jaxson Dart into the season.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Kiffin declined to name a quarterback to start the season opener against visiting Mercer on Saturday (1 p.m., SEC Network+).
"We've not made that final decision," Kiffin said. "We're very excited about all the guys. As far as the starter, that's between two people. Both guys played extremely well and made very explosive plays on Saturday. Managed the offense well. We feel very confident with either of them."
It is the second consecutive season that Kiffin has not named a starting QB before the beginning of the campaign. Last year, Kiffin named Dart the starter over Luke Altmyer after the third game of the season.
Dart threw for 2,974 yards with 20 touchdowns and 11 interceptions as a sophomore in 2022. It wasn’t a perfect debut campaign for the Rebels, but it was solid enough that it surprised many onlookers when the Rebels added Sanders, a four-year starter at Oklahoma State who has only one season of eligibility remaining.
PREDICTIONS: Ole Miss football game-by-game predictions 2023: Lane Kiffin, Rebels will exceed expectations
The majority of the first-team reps this offseason have belonged to Dart, but Sanders has also shown good things as time has worn on. Dart still sees the vast majority of the snaps with the top unit in the practice periods open to the media, but Sanders got an entire half's worth of work with the first team in the Rebels’ open scrimmage earlier this month.
David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.
Get the latest news and insight on SEC football by subscribing to the SEC Unfiltered newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Ole Miss football's Lane Kiffin does not name starting QB for Mercer
