One team had its starting quarterback and he played until the final minute, while the other team was missing its starter and played one who had attempted one pass this season.

The Gator Bowl went that way, with Mississippi drilling Duke 52-20 on Thursday night at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla.

Ole Miss senior Jaxson Dart completed 27 of 35 passes for 404 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed for 43 yards.

Duke (9-4), sans starter Maalik Murphy, turned to redshirt sophomore Henry Belin IV. He was 25-for-44 with 236 yards and two touchdowns; Belin was 19-for-33 in his career entering the game.

Duke trailed by double digits five times in the regular season and came back to take leads in each of those games — against UNC, Georgia Tech, SMU, Miami and Wake Forest. The Blue Devils finished off the comebacks against UNC and Wake Forest and lost the other three.

There was no such comeback magic in the final game.

It was a 24-7 game at halftime and Duke received the second-half kickoff. After each team traded three-and-outs that went backward, the Blue Devils got close to midfield before Belin was intercepted.

That was returned 50 yards for a touchdown by Isaiah Hamilton, solidifying Ole Miss’ runaway win.

The only completed drive of the first half on which Ole Miss (10-3) didn’t score was the one it threw an interception on a fake field goal. Otherwise, drives covering 68, 66, 61 and 75 yards resulted in three touchdowns and a field goal.

The Blue Devils did find some life in the second quarter. That was in the form of an eight-play, 75-yard drive that ended with an on-the-run Belin throwing across his body to the middle of the field, where a wide-open Javon Harvey was waiting for a 16-yard touchdown.

Belin was 4-for-6 for 67 yards on that drive. He later threw a 20-yard touchdown to Jordan Moore, capping the converted QB’s career with a score in the fourth quarter.

Ole Miss put the game into blowout territory with three second-half touchdown drives that were each four plays. Those drives covered distances of 74, 38 and 75 yards.

The game got wacky in the final two minutes. Dart, still in the game, threw a 69-yard touchdown to Jordan Watkins with 1:27 left. That made it a 52-14 game and left Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin steaming on the sidelines and afterward, allegedly telling Duke coach Manny Diaz in the post-game handshake that Dart wasn’t supposed to check to a pass play in that situation.

Duke returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown.

That was Peyton Jones catching the ball on the right side of the field, throwing across it to Sahmir Hagans, who reversed field back to the side where Jones started for a 99-yard touchdown.

The extra point was blocked and returned to midfield and that, mercifully, is where the game’s scoring ended — though Ole Miss freshman quarterback Austin Simmons threw a 34-yard pass to Jordan Smart on the game’s final play.

Ole Miss won the toss and took the ball, which led to weird first possessions for both teams.

The SEC team drove the field and stalled at Duke’s 10-yard line. After some alignment shenanigans on a fake field goal, kicker Caden Davis’ lollipop throw was intercepted by Terry Moore — the Duke safety’s fourth pick of the year — and returned 59 yards into Ole Miss territory.

From there, Duke had running back Jaquez Moore attempt a pass on its first offensive snap. Duke got it to third-and-1 and threw an incompletion on that down, and then another incompletion on fourth down meant it was no blood on the scoreboard after an eventful first few minutes.

EXTRA POINTS: Harvey’s touchdown catch was his first reception since Duke’s game against SMU on Oct. 26 and is the only touchdown the Old Dominion transfer scored this season. … Duke had won five straight bowl games; its last loss was to Arizona State in the 2014 Sun Bowl. … Duke had 44 rushing yards, its second-lowest total of the season (behind the win at N.C. State). The Blue Devils didn’t top 100 rushing yards in a game once over the last six games of the season. … Duke’s season ends one win shy of double digits, which the Blue Devils have only accomplished once in program history (in 2013). … The game’s kickoff was delayed about 30 minutes because of the postponed Sugar Bowl, which was played at 4 p.m. and broadcast on the same network as this game (ESPN).