Duke football fans may have bristled at the final Ole Miss touchdown during Thursday’s TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, a 69-yard pass from quarterback Jaxson Dart to Jordan Watkins that made it a 52-14 game with 87 seconds left on the board.
Head coach Lane Kiffin, with a penchant for trash talk, seemed like a likely culprit. After the game, however, Kiffin insisted it wasn’t his idea.
“I do apologize,” Kiffin said. “I told Manny at the end, Jaxson’s touchdown pass to Jordan, that was just those two guys. I actually tried to take Jaxson out if you saw earlier, and he refused to go out, which says a lot about him. But he and Jordan came up with that play on their own, and he was supposed to hand the ball off. I didn’t like that part.”
Dart and Watkins, who both spoke with the media after their coach, corroborated his story.
“We’ll take the blame for that one,” Watkins said. “We’re always trying to win, and we got a good look, and we checked the play.”
“We told each other if we’re going to be out there, we’re going to play football,” Dart added. “And they pressed him.”
Dart had already thrown for 335 yards and three touchdowns before that play, but he broke the 400-yard barrier with that fourth score. Watkins finished with 180 yards and two touchdowns on seven catches.