Lane Kiffin ‘disappointed for our fans’ in Rebels’ loss to Kentucky, credits Wildcats’ defense
OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss lost a tough one Saturday against Kentucky, and on Sunday head coach Lane Kiffin met with media via Zoom for his weekly wrap-up.
Coach Kiffin offered his thoughts on the game, indicating his team had opportunities to win in many facets of the game and just could’t get it done.
“Very discouraging outcome. Really disappointed for our fans that I thought really showed up and really good energy in the second half as we took the lead. Just a win that we could’ve come away with. In all areas, we had different chances to do that. Whether it’s special teams putting it in overtime with the field goal, or offense finishing that drive with a touchdown, or the previous drive when we had the ball up four and we went three and out. Then obviously the defensive drive, we’ve been playing really good defense. Give (Kentucky head coach Mark) Stoops credit for doing something that’s rarely ever done, he went for it with four minutes left on his 19 (yard line) and threw a go ball. The guy made a great play and we knocked the ball out on a fumble that pops into their hands in the end zone. We really have no one to blame but ourselves for a lot of different areas.”
Coach Lane Kiffin
The Rebels now find themselves ranked No. 12 in this week’s AP Poll, a drop from No. 6 last week, with no margin for error in the coming weeks if they want to keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive.
And it doesn’t get any easier this weekend as Ole Miss travels to Columbia, South Carolina to play the Gamecocks — the same Gamecocks team that beat Kentucky 31-6 earlier this season.
The Kentucky defense forced Ole Miss into an abysmal 1-for-10 third down conversion rate, a number that must be improved upon against South Carolina.
On Sunday, Coach Kiffin talked about the Wildcats’ defense, a unit that held Georgia to just 13 points in a 13-12 loss to the Bulldogs earlier this season — the same unit that sacked Jaxson Dart five times and held Ole Miss to just 92 total yards rushing Saturday.
“I think that’s one of the premier defensive teams, especially front seven in college football, I’ll say. You saw what Georgia did on offense last night to some really good Alabama players on defense and Georgia couldn’t get 300 yards against these guys. These guys are really good, and I think there are a lot of people with defensive problems, especially when their offense keeps them alive in a game. We’ve got to perform better. Obviously there was more of a heavy dosage of pass early, which worked the first series just because of their play on defense and how tough they are to run between the tackles on.”
Lane Kiffin
Coach Kiffin was asked about the Rebels’ offensive line and the absence of left tackle Jayden Williams, out due to injury. Diego Pounds played at that spot during the game vs. the Wildcats and has been splitting time with Williams thus far this season.
“I don’t have an update yet on (Williams’) status. They were doing some tests, and he was seeing trainers today,” Coach Kiffin said. “He’s been a valuable piece for us, but at the same time people gotta step up and (Kentucky) was a hard test to step into. I think Diego can continue to improve, if that’s the case. He’d been playing almost half the snaps there anyway.”
In addition to Williams’ absence, Ole Miss was also without left guard/center Caleb Warren and right guard Jeremy James.
Next Up
No. 12 Ole Miss (4-1, 0-1 SEC) travels to face the Gamecocks (3-1, 1-1 SEC) Saturday, October 5, with a 2:30 p.m. CT kickoff time.
Evelyn Van Pelt
Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn's love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.
