It wasn’t always the most comfortable of wins, but nonetheless, Ole Miss football is 4-0 heading into a homecoming showdown with #8 Kentucky. In the baking Mississippi heat, the Rebels found their way to a 35-27 victory over the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. As one of the 50,000 or so in attendance, I feel uniquely qualified to speak on this game, and what in means in the larger context of Ole Miss' 2022 season. With that out of the way, let's dive into the three biggest takeaways I had from Ole Miss' 35-27 Week 4 win over Tulsa.

3. Jaxson Dart just continues to improve

There were some issues in the second half of course, as with the whole offense, given they didn't register any points in the second half, but you just have to look at the second quarter to see another week of marked improvement for the sophomore gunslinger from Kaysville, Utah. Dart's deep passes, while a couple weren't exactly where they needed to be, were still more or less on target a vast majority of the time. He found a rhythm in the second quarter that, combined with effective running, allowed the Ole Miss football offense to show what they can really do as they scored 28 of their 35 points in the second quarter.

His biggest test of the year comes this week against Kentucky, and if he passes it, the sky is the limit for the former USC Trojan.

2. The pass defense needs some work

Sure, coming into the game Tulsa had the #1 ranked offense in the country in terms of pass yards, and sure they still sit pretty in fourth, but there was still a lot left to be desired from the Ole Miss secondary.

Several busted coverages allowed Tulsa to find receivers deep downfield, and that was responsible for all three of Tulsa's touchdowns. Tulsa also converted 4-of-4 third down attempts in which they ran the ball, which shows that they were able to make Ole Miss' defense respond to them and not the other way around.

Kentucky doesn't have quite the offense Tulsa does, at least statistically, but there will still need to be some drastic improvement against a talented quarterback in Will Levis. If they can lock Levis down the same way they did against, say, Texas A&M last year, it should be quite the Party in the Sip.

1. Quinshon Judkins may be the best running back in the country next year

This game was a coming-out party for Ole Miss football 17-year-old, 5'11” 220-pound true freshman running back Quinshon Judkins. With Ulysses Bentley IV missing the game with an apparent minor injury and Zach Evans leaving the game with a slight knock of his own, Judkins was asked to be Lane Kiffin's bellcow, and he responded in a big way. Rushing for a season-high 140 yards on an also season high 27 carries, Judkins powered his way through the Golden Hurricane defense time and again, and also found paydirt twice to bring his total to five for the season.

That also means two touchdowns in back-to-back games for Judkins, who really looks like he may very well be considered the best running back in the country next year with Texas' Bijan Robinson departing. If he's not #1, he'll be pretty close to it, and you can definitely expect to hear his name called near the top of the running back pile in the 2025 NFL Draft. Ole Miss football has a special one.