Sunday Presser: Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin looks back at Rebels’ loss to Georgia
OXFORD, Miss – Ole Miss (8-2, 5-2 SEC) head coach Lane Kiffin met with the media on Sunday for his weekly recap of the. The No. 13 ranked Rebels are coming off a 52-17 loss to No. 1 Georgia on Saturday.
“Like I said after (the game) I think Georgia played great. They had a great environment. As far as their energy, stadiums and pregame productions, I think it was the perfect storm there and we didn’t help it very well, not playing well defensively the entire game.“
Lane Kiffin on Georgia game
Kiffin talked about the Rebels’ inability to stop the Bulldogs. Georgia amassed 611 yards of total offense, 311 passing and 300 rushing.
“I don’t think I have ever been a part of one where there was not even a one-yard loss on a negative play,” Kiffin said. “I don’t think we touched the quarterback the entire day. So really discouraging effort on defense and offense.”
Kiffin added after Ole Miss scored the two touchdown drives they didn’t do much.
“Georgia is the two-time defending national champs that haven’t lost there in five years for a reason,” Kiffin said. “But that’s no excuse to lose the way that we did, by that big of a margin. We basically almost never stopped them. I think they had ten possessions: seven touchdowns, a field goal, a punt and an interception. It doesn’t matter what you do on the other side you are not going to win there (with that),” Kiffin noted.
Now the Rebels return home for the last regular season home game of the year as they play host to ULM.
“Now we’ve got to move forward. We’ve got our final home game coming up to get to nine wins,” Kiffin said. “You get to nine wins and move on to the next week.”
Junior quarterback Jaxson Dart went out of the game with an injury in the third quarter on a running play and didn’t return. Oklahoma State transfer Spencer Sanders played the remainder of the game.
Dart injured on the play. Spencer Sanders in for the Rebels. pic.twitter.com/Nq2JgwJmOh
— The Rebel Walk (@TheRebelWalk) November 12, 2023
“Jaxson was cleared to go back into the game after being checked out on the side. Just decided not to, and it was good for Spencer to get a chance to play in there. Jaxson should be fine. He feels better today and should be fine.”
Lane Kiffin on Jaxson Dart
Ole Miss was able to find the endzone on two of their first three drives of the game.
“Well, a lot of our system can look really good and look really bad,” Kiffin said. “If you are not getting it rolling to some tempo and try and get some loose plays like in those drives, it goes really quick and you three-and-out really fast.”
Kiffin added that the Rebels did a good job on those early drives as they used some good schematical plays, going for it on fourth and one in their own territory on the first one.
“It paid off,” Kiffin said. “Sometimes that happens where we start fast…and they are not use to the tempo and then they adjust to it. It is hard to practice the tempo properly.”
Against the Bulldogs, Ole Miss took an aggressive approach on defense.
“We actually took an aggressive approach on defense, which doesn’t make sense with (giving up) 600 yards and having zero negative plays — and the quarterback not getting touched one time the whole day. We did take an aggressive plan to try and create negative plays knowing that if we played safe we be dying a slow death. It didn’t end up working out that way.”
Lane Kiffin on the defense vs. Georgia
On Sunday morning, news broke that Texas A&M had fired Jimbo Fisher as the Aggies’ head coach. On Sunday Coach Kiffin was asked about his name surfacing as a candidate for the job.
“I’m not going there, again. I should’ve been prepared for that (question), I wasn’t. I’m not answering that.”
Lane Kiffin when asked about his name being associated as a candidate for A&M
Kiffin indicated he is busy with his own team and not listening to any of the coaching carousel news.
“… We got back in here late and been in here watching that disaster film, worrying about or own problems. I’ve not paid any attention to (Jimbo Fisher’s firing). That’s the profession we’re in. Now more than ever, it’s a ‘what have you done for me lately?’ Things happen quick. Just is what it is.”
Next Up
Ole Miss welcomes ULM into the Vaught on Saturday for senior day. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. and can be seen on the SEC Network.
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.
