Lane Kiffin talks about the win over ULM and preparing for the Egg Bowl with a short week
OXFORD, Miss. – No. 13 Ole Miss defeated the ULM Warhawks, 35-3, on Saturday to close out the 2023 regular season at home inside Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
Head coach Lane Kiffin met with the media after the game to discuss the victory.
“Glad our guys finished the season undefeated at home,” Kiffin said. “Really neat kind of as you group it together a lot of special moments through the year here and memories. Glad we finished off with a win which is the bottom line.”
This season, the Rebels were perfect inside the Vaught at 7-0 for the second time in three years.
“Says a lot about these kids and where it’s come. The last 23 games (we’re) 21-2. The fact you can go that long and remember the games you lost. Not scoring in the Alabama game. Our guys have played really well here. They have either won or had the ball at the end to tie or win.”
Lane Kiffin on the Rebels’ home record
In the first half, ULM held the Rebels to only seven points offensively.
“Not pleased with the first half offensively,” Kiffin said. “Very surprised that we came out like that. Played flat and had penalties and had a drop for a touchdown. Very pleased they responded in the third quarter. To go 21-0 to pull away in the game was huge.”
Early in the game, Ole Miss was moving the ball against ULM in the first half.
“The good thing is it wasn’t just a three-and-out,” Kiffin said. “We were moving the ball and we would get a penalty and didn’t finish it. We were just trying to create some momentum and went for it on fourth down when maybe you wouldn’t have. I just think we didn’t finish the drives or put ourselves in a bad situation with more holding penalties.”
At halftime, as Ole Miss led ULM 7-3, Kiffin and his staff wanted the team to finish strong.
“(We) really challenged them like they are going out to an SEC game,” Kiffin said. “They have a half here to come out with some great intensity. Try to bring your own energy. They aren’t going to get it in other places. To create it.”
Ole Miss has to turn the page quickly as the team travels down to Starkville on Thanksgiving to face Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl.
“A short week, we have to go to work after this,” Kiffin said.
“We have to go to work to get this trophy back. We screwed it up last year, now we have a short week to get ready for that.”
Lane Kiffin on the Egg Bowl trophy
Kiffin added that the Rebels came out of the game against the Warhawks pretty healthy.
“Maybe second after winning was to be healthy especially after last year getting beat up and playing over 90 plays (against Arkansas),” he said. “Before playing this game.”
Looking ahead to the final game of the regular season on Thanksgiving, the Rebels will have a short week to get ready.
“This late in the year we don’t practice very much This setup of a short week is just one full day of practice. We are going upstairs to watch this film and watch the State game. This week, for the first time really, we started game planning during the week for them. We haven’t done that before.”
Lane Kiffin on preparing on a short week
Ole Miss will close out the 2023 regular season against their in-state rival Mississippi State on Thanksgiving. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN.
Adam Brown
Adam Brown joins The Rebel Walk as the Managing Editor after being on the Ole Miss beat as a Sports Editor for over 11 years. He is a lifelong Oxford resident. Brown graduated from the University of Mississippi with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.
Prior to The Rebel Walk, Brown was the sports editor of HottyToddy.com covering every Ole Miss sport and local high school sports in the community.
