WHAT HE SAID: Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin talks with media after loss: ‘This one will be around forever’

BATON ROUGE — Ole Miss lost a crushing overtime game to LSU Saturday night, 29-26, dropping the Rebels to 5-2 overall, 1-2 in the SEC. After the game, head coach Lane Kiffin spoke with media.

Here’s what he had to say:

Coach Lane Kiffin’s Opening Statement:

Alright. That’s a hard one, obviously. I feel for the players in the locker room. You know, we played really hard and then make some plays at the end. You give them credit too, you know — that last drive in regulation. I mean, we lead the whole game until what, the last 30 seconds of the game. So come in here to lead the whole game, we’re doing some things right and got some really big plays. (LSU’s) Quarterback played great…scramble play… (they make) a couple fourth down conversions to put it in overtime. It should never gotten there. You know we should have finished it when we had the ball up for a chance to go down and make it two scores. And similar to the Kentucky game, they didn’t do that and we put ourselves in a much harder situation, so I’m just really disappointed, obviously.

We should win that game…kind of commanded the game for the majority of it, but credit to them for making plays late in the fourth quarter and in overtime. And I told our guys, you know, we’ve got to make plays and we’ve got to coach better. And you don’t get some breaks sometimes, too. That’s the sport, you know. My opinion, Juice (Wells) is running a post for a touchdown and the corner grabs him and he can’t run his post. And so Jaxson throws it on time and he gets an interception because the corner grabs him (Juice) and there’s no penalty. So that’s a pretty big swing. We’re going in to score and then throw an interception. So I’m not saying that’s why we lost the game. Just that was a hard one to deal with at the time because it looks like a bad pass by Jaxson. But you know when you watch it on an iPad, you see a guy grab him. So, tough one.

Media: Coach how tough was the environment to coach in tonight?

Coach Kiffin: I don’t know. No disrespect, but we commanded the game majority of the game ahead until the last 30 seconds. So, my opinion, it’s an electric atmosphere. Great crowd, but they (the crowd) don’t block, they don’t tackle, they don’t drop the ball, miss kicks, you know. So, we’ve got to make plays. I’ve got to coach better because we should have won that game. I mean, they’re a good team. We’re a good team. But we should have won that game.

Media: Lane, did you feel like in the first quarter you guys kind of left some points on the board where you could have had a much different sort of lead going into the second quarter, halftime?

Coach Kiffin: Yeah, I mean, those things catch up with you. You miss a field goal. You have fourth and one where you don’t get a cut off…We get no points in the red zone. We hand them three points with the fumble at the end of the half. So, again, that’s why I felt like we really were outplaying them. You know, we were the better team for the majority of the game. But man, you got to close them out. But yeah, we left a lot of points there. And still, after all that, to be ahead with the ball in the fourth quarter. Tough one. Just sometimes things just suck.

Media: How much did the offense change not having Tre (Harris) out there in the second half?

Coach Kiffin: Yeah, I mean those things, obviously it’s a hard loss. Like I said, the interception and three pass interferences. And then you know you’re battling with these great players and everything. And then you don’t have Tre again. It changes what they do on defense, and so it sucks too.

Media: Do you feel like your offensive line gave Jaxson enough time, especially in the second half?

Coach Kiffin: I think we put him in some hard situations. You know, we threw the ball a lot, and we knew it would be a little bit big-little by the coverages they were playing and had to take some shots. And that puts it tough on the offensive line. And that is the one part where the environment matters.

Media: And what was the message in the locker room?

Coach Kiffin: I just said ‘this sucks, guys, and I feel for you.’ It’s a hard one and you got a bye (week upcoming) and you don’t get to play again….it’s easier if you get beat by a couple scores. I mean, this is our game and we have the game and we let it slip away…these are hard. This one will be around forever.

Media: With Matt Jones out, obviously the running back rotation changed. What did you think you got from from those guys, especially Ulysses Bentley? What did you think you got from him today?

Coach Kiffin: Great job of Bentley stepping up. He had a really good game. He played really well.

Media: Here, with two losses and five games left, do you feel like there’s enough time to get where you guys need to be?

Coach Kiffin: It’s tough because we hand two games away. I’m not trying to say that when you lose you hand them away, but in both games we have the ball and we’re ahead. It’s not like we’re going to score…we’re ahead with the ball to go up two scores, and in both these losses find a way to lose. So very easily we could be undefeated, so that’s tough to handle. I think we’re still a really good team because one stop or one ball or one pass interference call and you’re sitting here saying, what a great team to find a way to win in Baton Rouge. So again, I’m not going to overreact.

Media: Coach, did you feel like the defense might have been a little tougher than you anticipated? Or did you really feel like you just shot yourself in the foot tonight? What’s your first impression about it?

Coach Kiffin: I thought we were moving pretty well….I thought they did a good job. They’re obviously much improved…and, you know, they rushed early, ends our rush really well. I still think we had match up things on the corners. You know, you saw Tre (Harris) run by him and drop a touchdown ten yards behind him. So we had matchup issues there, and then Tre got hurt. And then, also they….went to a lot of cover two.