Lane Kiffin reflects on bye week and improving ahead of Oklahoma matchup: ‘We’ve got a lot of stuff to work on…’
OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss head football coach Lane Kiffin stepped to the podium Monday ahead of Saturday’s matchup against the Oklahoma Sooners to discuss the bye week for the Rebels and changes leading up to the SEC showdown.
“Good to have everybody back and get to work. This is a really big game for us, a big matchup. To have Oklahoma come in here, who is playing great defense, they just changed their offensive staff and looks like they changed their quarterback…Excited to get back in front of our home crowd and get back on track.”
~ Head coach Lane Kiffin
Getting through the bye week
More often than not, a bye week in the middle of the season is just what the coach and players are asking for. However, the Rebels went into their bye-week after suffering a second loss of the season in heartbreaking fashion against LSU, leaving them an extra long time before being able to get back out and play a game.
“I think it was really tough initially because of that game (against LSU). It’s one thing if you go into a game and you feel like the team wasn’t ready and you have personnel issues all over the place. But that was a game we went in and took the lead, thought guys responded and played well in historically an extremely hard place to play…we let it get away at the end…The year before we had a lot of close games here and won them, now we have had two (losses) that were very similar.”
~ Kiffin on having a bye week after a loss and getting over the LSU ‘hangover’
Although it may not have felt like it at the time, the week off did come at a time when the Rebels needed it. Kiffin said his team reflected on the losses during the time off, taking the opportunity to self-evaluate.
“I think it was good, from the mental part. There was a lot that went on with the two losses, that so easily could have been won and (games where we) had control of. We’re halfway through the season and have only trailed for two and a half minutes of all games combined. That part was a lot to deal with because we very easily could be undefeated or certainly with one loss. I think it was good for everyone to get a little break.”
~ Kiffin on the mental state of the team
Going into the LSU matchup, Ole Miss had a number of players questionable who ended up playing, some of whom were hurt again. Notable players such as Tre Harris and Princely Umanmielen played limited snaps after being on the injury report all week, while others such as JJ Pegues and Henry Parrish Jr. have been banged up for a while.
“I think the time off was good for a number of guys, whether they had been out or just not full speed. JJ Pegues for instance, Henry Parrish, both those guys played really hurt over the last game or two,” Kiffin explained.
Over the course of the bye week, the Ole Miss social media world took their opinions to message boards and multiple platforms to express frustration towards a struggling Ole Miss offense. Now with the Sooners making a change on their staff ahead of Saturday’s matchup, Rebel fans have expressed opinions on Ole Miss offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr.
Monday, Kiffin was asked about criticism towards his play caller, and he noted this is just a part of the game, now more than ever before.
“That is part of this profession. He (Weis Jr.) grew up in it. He is fine. Even though he is younger, he has been through it with his dad. It has always been part of this profession, more now than ever…I think that is just part of the world we live in now, especially with social media.”
Lane Kiffin on criticism of Charlie Weis, Jr.
Preparing for the Sooners
The day after a 35-9 loss to South Carolina, the Oklahoma Sooners announced they were firing offensive coordinator Seth Littrell and promoting former Ole Miss assistant Joe John Finley from co-coordinator.
Although these types of moves happen often within sports at the midway point of seasons, the questions began to loom as to how the Rebels plan to prepare for the change in the game plan. Kiffin responded by saying the Rebels will not change much, and although Finley coached tight ends at Ole Miss, there likely won’t be any advantage for the Rebels.
“I don’t think that really matters. That is one of those things that I can understand you think would mean a lot. He (Finley) didn’t call plays here, he’s got a different situation obviously than there, he was our tight end coach here. I don’t think that him having worked here before would help us at all in figuring out what he is going to do. With only a week to call plays, usually, people just kind of add plays here and there but stay with the system. You can’t reinvent the system in six days.“
~ Kiffin on Oklahoma firing their OC
Again, with the Rebels’ offensive struggles continuing over three weeks of SEC play, Kiffin exlplained that Ole Miss is currently more focused on getting better, themselves, ahead of the matchup with the Sooners.
“We’ve got a lot of stuff to work on ourselves, that we have worked on during the bye. We’re focused on continuing to play good run defense, play better pass defense, less penalties and have a better rhythm on offense. I feel like we have been out of rhythm for a little bit here. We look to maintain those and focus more on ourselves, especially with a team that offensively that has so many unknowns like this one (Oklahoma).“
~ Kiffin on preparing for Oklahoma
Adding to the many unknowns that the Sooners have at this point, sophomore quarterback Jackson Arnold returned last week late in the loss, replacing freshman Michael Hawkins Jr. for whom Arnold was benched earlier this year. With Finley at the helm, Kiffin is not expecting drastic changes.
“I don’t think they call a whole lot of different plays (for different QBs)…I think both guys move around really well. Both are big-time talents. We got to make sure we take care of ourselves and play really well,” Kiffin said when asked about his evaluation of the two signal-callers.
Last week during the bye week press conferences, Kiffin hinted that there would be changes up front on the offensive line for the Rebels moving forward. At the beginning of the season, Ole Miss was already missing Gerquan Scott and Caleb Warren. As the season went on, Jayden Williams and Jeremy James also went down with injuries.
Monday, Kiffin explained that there would be some shuffling in the trenches on offense with linemen returning and he fully expects Williams to play again before the end of the 2024 season.
“We’ve had two returning starters, that were starting, be out for a couple of weeks now. They both have done a little bit of stuff. We could shuffle some different things because we need to play more consistent up there. That was an issue, last week in pass protection.“
Lane Kiffin on offensive line changes
Up Next
On Saturday, Oct. 26 at 11:00 a.m. CT, the No. 18 Ole Miss Rebels will take on the Oklahoma Sooners. The game will be televised on ESPN.
Back in the Vaught 🔒
🆚 Oklahoma
🗓️ Oct. 26
🕚 11:00 AM CT
📺 ESPN#HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/tWAwISv3Be— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) October 21, 2024
Kameron Wicker
Kam is a senior at Ole Miss, currently pursuing a degree in Journalism. Even though he's from Delhi, Louisiana, that didn't stop Kam from growing up a diehard Ole Miss fan. He's a sports guru who watches and follows all sports at all times. He lettered four years in football and baseball in high school and is an avid Saints, Pelicans, and Astros fan. In his free time, you can find him watching sports or at the rec participating in them.
