As Ole Miss prepares to face Alabama, Lane Kiffin offers positive update on Tre Harris, Caden Prieskorn
OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin held his weekly press conference Monday and immediately caught the attention of fans in his opening statement when he mentioned the health status of injured wide receiver Tre Harris and tight end Caden Prieskorn.
“It’s good that we looked a little better health-wise out there (at practice) today. Good to get Tre [Harris] out there and [Caden] Prieskorn out there. I’m sure Jaxson [Dart] feels good about that.”
Lane Kiffin on injuries
Coach Kiffin did not say how much or in what manner Harris and Prieskorn participated, but we will bring you updates after practice Tuesday when media is allowed to attend.
Harris was injured in the first half of the Tulane game, while Prieskorn suffered a toe injury during fall camp. Harris has eight receptions on the season, five of which have been touchdown catches.
There have also been reports that UTSA wide receiver transfer Zakhari Franklin could be closer to getting on the field after not being able to participate in fall camp or yet this season due to injury.,
While these additions would take a lot of pressure off of Dart and his offense, Coach Kiffin knows the caliber of the opponent the Rebs will be facing on the road in Tuscaloosa.
“Good start to the week. I think guys understand the magnitude of this game, understand we made a lot of mistakes last week and there’s a lot of things we need to improve on. As I mentioned, we’re going into an extremely hard place to play. It’s an ultra-talented football team, so we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.”
Lane Kiffin
For Kiffin, Alabama’s abundance of talent is evident.
“(Suntarine) Perkins is probably the only player on our roster that they wanted,” Kiffin said, referring to the Rebels’ five-star linebacker from Raleigh, Miss.
Not only did Lane speak highly of the roster at Alabama, but he continues to convey the utmost respect towards his former head coach and mentor, Nick Saban. Kiffin held the offensive coordinator position under Saban for three years (2014-2016), where he helped bring home a national championship trophy in 2015.
“He has done it better than anybody over time and it really speaks to why he is the best coach in college football and maybe all of sports. To be in the time of scholarship limitations which the old coaches didn’t deal with, you know, I just told you he has 85 players we couldn’t get, what if he had 150 like they used to.“
Lane Kiffin on Nick Saban
Saban’s team is 2-1 after a loss to the Texas Longhorns in week two and has come across several unanswered questions thus far this season. Through three games, all three Crimson Tide quarterbacks — Jalen Milroe, Ty Simpson, and Tyler Buchner — have seen the field for at least a full half, but during Saban’s press conference Monday, he made it clear that Jalen Milroe, the original starter, will face the Rebels on Saturday.
Nick Saban indicates Jalen Milroe will be Alabama’s starting QB moving forward pic.twitter.com/ONLUqfRJl6
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) September 18, 2023
When talking about what to prepare for, Lane had this to say about Milroe.
“He’s hard to catch, tackle, bring down, and can run physically too. He is a big challenge as you saw early in the season,” Kiffin said.
An additional area of interest is who is the defensive playcaller for Alabama? In a Sunday conference call with media, Coach Kiffin indicated he believes cornerbacks coach Travarius Robinson called the plays during week three, instead of defensive coordinator Kevin Steele.
When asked about that again on Monday, Kiffin explained why he believes this to be the case.
“We saw things on TV where it was different. First off, what the play and calls looked like, so we looked into that further, and it ain’t no secret that people in these buildings know each other, so obviously we got some information that way too,” Kiffin said.
While Saban shot down these rumors on Monday, it will be interesting to see if the Ole Miss offense or the Alabama defense takes the upper hand in the top 25 matchup this Saturday.
Game info
Ole Miss and Alabama kick off at 2:30 p.m. (CT) Saturday at Bryant-Denny. The game will be broadcast on CBS.
