Lane Kiffin talks about moving forward from Rebels’ loss to LSU: ‘There’s a lot left to play for…let’s go to work’
OXFORD, Miss. – Monday morning, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin took the podium to speak on the Rebels’ loss in Baton Rouge and on areas of improvement for the team moving forward into the upcoming bye week.
Lane Kiffin on the message to the team: “I just made sure they they understood what was going on and how close they are to being undefeated. Very rarely are games down to the last play like both of ours have been…we’ve been ahead in both of them with the ball.”
— The Rebel Walk (@TheRebelWalk) October 14, 2024
Staying positive
Following the overtime loss to to the Tigers, Coach Kiffin continues to address the media with positivity moving forward, despite his team having two losses at a point in the year the Rebels expected to be undefeated. Both losses on his team’s resume are only by a combined six points.
“(There’s) a lot left to play for,” Kiffin explained to his team Monday.
“I told them they’re a really good team. We’re just not finishing like a great team would or we’re undefeated right now.”
Lane Kiffin on what he has said to his team
A main concern for Rebel Nation over the weekend heading into the bye week has been where the team is at mentally. Coming off an overtime loss of that fashion, some teams find it hard to bounce back. Fortunately, the Rebels have two weeks to get it right.
“I think that’s my job as a head coach of where they’re at mentally. I think they were really bad when they came in (Monday), and I had to say, ‘Hey, you know, this is reality.’ We have to have acceptance that this happened. We have fault in the reality, fault in the loss, fault in being 5-2 and not being undefeated, but we also can’t just sit around and still continue to mourn and sit in this — versus, okay, let’s go to work, let’s watch the film…Now we got to go forward. Now we’ve got a chance to get better in the bye week, get healthy, improve on some things, and go win the rest of them.“
~ Kiffin on where his team is mentally
Kiffin did something on Monday that we have not seen before. The Rebel head coach left the room following the conclusion of his press conference, allowing players to take the podium next. However, after wide receiver Cayden Lee briefly spoke with the media, Kiffin popped back into the conference room to add one last thing for Ole Miss fans.
“I forgot one thing. You know, that we were on that subject when I walked out (earlier), I remembered someone who’s been in here a long time said something to me yesterday, and they said, ‘I wanted to say, make sure you look at it as a positive. Our fans are really upset about the game and really upset about the loss.’ I said, ‘Yeah, I feel them. So are we,’ they said, ‘you know, understand that for a long time that wasn’t the case here. It would have been, ‘Wow, we went into LSU at night and played them really close and we were ahead the whole game.’ I said, ‘Yeah, you know, I’m glad that our fans are upset and I’m glad our fans feel like us. I’m glad that we’ve created a new expectation that we’re supposed to go into LSU and win, and if we don’t, we’re upset.’ So, I’m glad our fans feel like that. I’m glad that that’s the expectation around here. I said that when the first year when we played Alabama close here (and lost) and I said, ‘We didn’t come here to play close games. We came here to win those games.’ So, I’m glad the feeling around has changed to the same thing…We play Oklahoma for the first time in the history of the school, I think, in history here, so an exciting SEC game after a bye week off and come with a great atmosphere and ready to go get back on track and win the next game.”
~ Kiffin with a message to Rebel fans
Moving forward
Although not being in the position they thought they would be in at the midway point, the team’s bye week could not be coming at a better time for the Rebels. Kiffin commented on how the bye week has come at a convenient time for Ole Miss, allowing the Rebels to get healthy for the most important stretch of the season.
“I think it does come in a good time from a physical standpoint. Now, obviously, I’d always like to win going into byes for the feeling of it. But we’ve now played a couple of weeks without the starting left tackle. We played without Princely (Umanmielen), who you certainly think would have probably made a difference in a 50-pass game when he’s an elite pass rusher. Jeremy James after 50 starts has been out. So, I definitely think that it’s coming at a good time, and I look to get all three of those guys back.”
~ Kiffin on needing the bye week
Unfortunately for Coach Kiffin, the bye week for the Rebels will also likely be filled with looming questions. One of the tough first questions the Rebel head coach received on Monday was in terms of offensive play calling. Kiffin, a former offensive coordinator himself, was asked if he planned on inserting himself into that role more moving forward.
“No, I’m not going to say that. I think that a lot of times coaches point to that (a coordinator’s playcalling) to try to deflect off of a situation. So, you know, we’re going to look at everything because that’s what we do in byes, not because we lost on the last play of a game in a really hard place to play and against a really good team. So, all of a sudden, we’re not going to change everything we do…we look at everything during bye weeks every year within our program, and especially if things aren’t going as well as we thought they would and one of those would be the consistency on offense.“
~ Kiffin on the play-calling
Looking back at Saturday’s loss, the Rebel offensive line gave up six sacks to an SEC defense that sits at the bottom in a handful of categories. If there is one area that is for certain to be looked at, Kiffin claimed there will likely be changes up front heading into the week off.
“Everything can be worked on and improved. Like I said in the bye, we look at all things and we’ve definitely already started looking up front. Now up front, some of that’s injury based too, because we’ve had two returning starters (offensive line) that have been out for a few weeks. So, that hasn’t necessarily allowed us to make moves that we may have made otherwise. I think there’ll be some changes there.“
~ Kiffin on the Ole Miss O-Line
Another big area of concern for the Ole Miss offense has been the lack of spreading the ball around to elite playmakers. Although nursing an injury to start the year, Jordan Watkins’ production from his first two seasons as a Rebel has dropped along with the lack of targets for tight end Caden Prieskorn.
Monday, Kiffin commented on the difficulties of spreading the ball around with several ‘mouths to feed.’
“I mean that has been challenging. I think that the Prieskorn challenge has been the lack of targets…Juice (Wells) probably has more targets than anybody. I don’t know, maybe that’s wrong, but with Tre (Harris) being hurt in both games in the second halves, so I wouldn’t say that that those are all the same situations. I think that Jordan (Watkins) was hurt early on. He’s come into more of a role now in the last two weeks. Actually, if you look closely, he actually started the last two games and started in Juice’s place actually in the last game. So, he’s done a really good job.“
~ Kiffin on getting playmakers the ball
Despite the loss, there were bright spots to take away from the Rebels’ trip to Death Valley. Sophomore wideout Cayden Lee led the team in receiving for the game with 9 grabs for 132 yards, stepping up for Ole Miss when star receiver Tre Harris went down. Kiffin commented on the career night for the Georgia native.
“We’ve got the ball to him. Cayden Lee has done a really good job. I think that speaks volumes of him that with these other receivers that he started. You can kind of figure that out. It says a lot about how he’s played and how valuable he is. He made some really critical plays in the game.“
~ Kiffin on Cayden Lee
The return of Bentley IV
The other positive of the road trip was the return of Ulysses ‘Doo’ Bentley IV. Over the course of the season, many football watchers have been wondering why Bentley has not played much for the Rebels given his success last season and his status as one of the two returning running backs for team.
Saturday, the senior running back was inserted back into his usual role, and he took full advantage of the opportunity. Bentley rushed for 107 yards on 11 carries, doubling all of his totals for the 2024 season. You could feel the weight lifted when the Rebel veteran back broke off a 50-yard run for his first score of the year.
THERE. HE. GOES.@BentleyDoo | #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/beoq1X3yfb
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) October 13, 2024
Monday, coach Kiffin commented on an exchange with running back coach Kevin Smith following the touchdown, stating that it was all just excitement for their senior running back.
“It was an exciting moment, especially because it was fourth down and for Bentley and like, you could see just kind of like his release, you know, because he was frustrated and frustrated not playing and frustrated that when he had played, you know, he hadn’t had much production when he played earlier in the year. So, I was just extremely excited for the moment, but excited for him. I actually just finished meeting with him and told him how proud I was, how he handled adversity, and how well that he played in the game. So, I’m sure I was just excited.“
~ Kiffin on his exchange with Smith after the Bentley TD
Up Next
Ole Miss has reached its first bye week of the 2024 season. On Oct. 26, the No. 18 Rebels will be back in action in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium when they play host to the Oklahoma Sooners. Kickoff is set for 11:00 a.m.
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.
