OXFORD, Miss. -- Records are made to be broken. At least that's the way the offense of the 17th-ranked Mississippi Rebels looks at things.

At least that's the way the offense and quarterback Chad Kelly look at things. It took all of one week for the Rebels to break a point total for a quarter they set in the opener against UT-Martin. And it took less than a quarter for Kelly to put on a show, and really lay claim to being the outright starter.

Ole Miss defeated Fresno State 73-21 in front of a crowd of 60,302 Saturday afternoon at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. After blistering the scoreboard with 76 points against the Skyhawks, Kelly, and the rest of his offensive mates, picked right up where they left off last week.

"Chad Kelly is the starter. I said (Friday), to the ESPN crew, that the job is his to lose," Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze said. "Chad has certainly done nothing to put himself out of the job, so he is the starter. I expect that to continue. I still like Ryan Buchanan and DeVante Kincade, also."

Kelly had three touchdowns and rushed for another score in the first quarter alone. He finished with four touchdowns through the air and was 20-of-25 passing for 346 yards. Ole Miss had 304 total yards in the first quarter, and scored one more point than it did against UT-Martin with 28.

"I was proud of him. I know his completion percentage was real high and he obviously threw for a bunch of yards," Ole Miss offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Dan Werner said.

With a date at No. 2 Alabama looming next week, the Rebels clearly continued to polish things up against the Bulldogs of the Mountain West. Ole Miss went faster with Kelly having the ball in his hands. Last season, Freeze decided to slow the pace and play to the strength of the nation's top-ranked scoring defense. This year, the offense, which is averaging 74.5 points, is front and center.

"In the opener, it was hard to go fast when you were having these long gainers, those 60-yard runs and long touchdowns that we had on one play," Werner said. "Today was more like a real situation and I thought our guys handled it well."

Quincy Adeboyejo caught three of Kelly's touchdown passes, with the longest covering 50 yards.

"His deep balls are really good. From anybody I've ever thrown with, he has one of the best deep balls I've ever encountered," Adeboyejo said after racking up a career-high 120 yards receiving on five catches. "He just puts some touch on it, and he hits those guys in stride."

Fresno State coach Tim DeRuyter gave credit to the Rebels, saying they executed very well overall.

"Obviously we played an excellent football team in Ole Miss, give them credit," he said. "They have a ton of talent and are coached very well. We knew coming in that we had to take care of the football and that we couldn't give up explosive plays on defense. We didn't do a good job in either case."

The Rebels also continued to rotate people in and out on defense. And they tackled better than they did in the opener when Freeze had them down for 17 missed stops. Defensive coordinator Dave Wommack felt like the first team was very strong against the Bulldogs, who had trouble moving the ball when they were on the field.

"That was also a much better football team we played today. I know I'm proud of our one's. I think they're going to be pretty good," Wommack said. "I was a little disappointed in how we handle the two's at the safety and linebacker position. We're going to have to step up when we get into SEC play."

The Rebels' first real challenge comes next Saturday night at No. 2 Alabama. Laquon Treadwell, who had five catches for 73 yards, felt like the team was ready. He added that the Rebels never looked ahead during the past week.

"We have to play our game and do my best. I think all my teammates will do their best," Treadwell said. "With our offense being so good ... this will be an early test. We're looking to go out and continue to make plays. I didn't hear one person say anything about Alabama this whole week. That's the focus you want to have, to go week by week, and not looking forward to a certain team. We have our goal of being the national champions, so we're going to take it one week at a time."

Ole Miss finished the game with 607 yards. A week after 10 players scored at least one touchdown, the Rebels had eight get into the end zone. Chief Brown scored for the first time in his career on a 22-yard interception late in the fourth quarter, while Robert Nkemdiche scored for the second straight game.

NOTES: For the first time in school history, Ole Miss scored 56 or more points in back-to-back games. ... Mississippi S Trae Elston returned an interception for a touchdown for a second straight week. ... Mississippi LB C.J. Johnson returned to the lineup after sitting out the opener due to suspension. He had an interception and two tackles. ... Mississippi junior OT Laremy Tunsil was forced to sit out for the second straight game due to an ongoing NCAA investigation. ... The 149 points scored by Ole Miss over the last two games are the most in a two-game span in school history.