WHAT THEY SAID: Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin, Bulldogs’ Jeff Lebby and Rebel and Bulldog players express thoughts on Egg Bowl

OXFORD, Miss. — There is no doubt the Egg Bowl is meaningful to players for both Ole Miss and Mississippi State football. Emotions were high before, during and after the Rebels’ 26-14 win. After the game, Rebels’ head coach Lane Kiffin and State’s Jeff Lebby, a former offensive coordinator for Ole Miss under Kiffin, met with media.

The head coaches were joined by players from their team, including: QB Jaxson Dart, RB Ulysses Bentley IV and LB Chris ‘Pooh’ Paul for Ole Miss and S Isaac Smith, WR Jaden Walley, C Ethan Miner, and LB Nic Mitchell. 

Here’s what they all had to say:

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin

Opening Statement: 

“Alright, so really happy for our fans and players that played here before. Obviously, as you guys know, it’s a huge game. It’s State and it’s hard for players or coaches to really understand until you get here to witness it yourself. Now, being in five of them, I understand that. I think our players probably felt that pretty early, but for some new players to understand, even though we told them a million times, records don’t matter. It happens in these games… weird things happen in these Egg Bowls. It doesn’t matter that… we were the number one passing team coming in. That stuff doesn’t mean anything and the game kind of started that way. I give (Jeff) Lebby credit, he had them ready to go, and they did a great job offensively early. He took risks which is what you’ve got to do as an underdog, so I respect that… So happy our guys finished… 16 to nothing to end the game. The explosive play down the line, I thought that was really neat, because so often, especially against tempo teams, you just run it in. For our guys to make four plays in a row to stop them there, you know we were up twelve and we could have just let them score, for me that was just a really cool memory for that to happen during this game. The game was probably different than a lot of people would’ve thought, but those guys came in and played three safeties deep… It might look different to everybody, but we just had to play a little different style in order to win. It’s a little bit conservative, but at the same time too we had no turnovers and they had three. That was a big difference in the game.

I’m happy for our seniors. I guess that’s 38 wins for the four-years guys and 44 wins for the five-years guys. I think they left a mark here. There’s actually masking tape up there from when we had a speaker, Kevin Elko, who was close with my dad… put masking tape up there because he talked about masking tape and what it leaves behind when you go to pull it off. It leaves a mark, it leaves a legacy. I really just noticed that again this week when I was talking about these seniors and these guys that were here that they left a legacy.  You know, screwed up last week so take the focus off of that and look at the whole product of what they’ve done. They came here…the four previous seasons I think they averaged five wins, and they came here not knowing whether Ole Miss was going to be great and they were a huge part of this. A run that, hopefully, we’ll win our postseason game and get to 10 wins in three of the last four years. So, I’m really happy for those guys and proud. Especially in a time when people don’t stay, players don’t stay. For these guys who stayed through this, even though their careers probably weren’t as perfect as they’d planned, I’m just really happy for those guys. The quarterback, he’s just… he’s awesome. There’s a way you want your son to be, that’s what you want to have. Complete team player who doesn’t care about stats or anything, he could care less that he threw for 143 yards today. You saw the way he ran, he was emotional at the end of the game and I just tried to help him keep it together because he cares. He cares about this team, this university… That doesn’t happen a lot anymore in college football if you look around. This guy is special. I hope people appreciate him.”

On postgame with Jaxson Dart on the field:

“It was not a planned thing. I usually walk off pretty quick. I don’t necessarily stay in the moment enough for guys when it’s their last time on the field. I just wanted to find him and tell him how much I appreciated him. I didn’t know the camera was rolling because they had not started their interview yet. He just said he loved me and started crying. I was just trying to be the coach and get him to stop crying. That is a lost generation in football right now. That guy plays the way Tom Luke talks about this rivalry.”

On Ulysses Bentley IV’s step up in the game:

“That was awesome. Huge momentum play for that ball to break. I was so happy for him and the team at that time. It is really good that you never know when that will happen. Complete team guy. He answered when his number was called today.”

Ole Miss linebacker Chris Paul

On the first interception of the season and his career:

“Yeah it was (if it was the first interception of his career). I was at the end of the line and I heard him checking, I heard him check something like that before, and it was quick like slants. I kind of baited him, I dropped straight back and just played the window then I caught it. So I’m thinking ‘Ahhh, I got to score.’ So I get to running and I saw two guys running right here. Then I saw one guy running in my blind spot, quarterback side.”

On wanting to keep spirits high after the Florida loss:

“Just coming in with a positive mindset like we did on Sunday. And reevaluating ourselves and just keying in on things we needed to fix. Like Coach Golding said, the game wasn’t about effort. It’s about guys doing their jobs each and every day and each and every play at 100% pace. I just feel like we just weren’t keyed in on the little things in that game and that is how we let that game slip away but coming in on Sunday guys were full of energy ready to take criticism and ready to get better and it showcased this week in how we played.”

On playing Mississippi State with Arkansas versus with Ole Miss:

“It means more and I can tell just by the crowd atmosphere today. Even at The Grove today, I can feel the energy from the crowd. This was something that was important to them. This was something that was stressed in my official visit when I came. I had people tell me they don’t care if we didn’t win one game, we have to beat Mississippi State. I can tell how much it means to fans here and how much it means to the players and coaches as well. So, I just want to go out there and give my 100% effort.”

Ole Miss RB Ulysses Bentley

On his 89-yard touchdown run:

“On that play call I knew the guard was pulling and once I saw that hole and hit it in the inside I knew, you know I’m fast so ain’t nobody catching me. Once I hit it I just knew I was gone at that point.”

On his touches in the last game compared to this game:

“I was not really frustrated, I was definitely frustrated that we lost and I did not get to impact my team the way I could. I definitely just put my head down and worked hard this week and came out here and did what I did.”

On maintaining a positive attitude throughout the season:

“Just keeping a positive attitude and we preach about it all the time, just be ready to go and at any point when my name is called. And when my name is called I’m ready to go.”

On what the Egg Bowl means to him: 

“It definitely means a lot. You know I’m from Houston, Texas, but just being here knowing that this is a rivalry, it just means so much for the people from here and the people in the Oxford community as well.”

Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart

On his expectations of coming to Ole Miss four years ago:

“My emotions have been running high all week, honestly. I’ve been taking time to reflect on my career here and the position that I felt we collectively all put in. I don’t know what is going to happen in the postseason, but there are a lot of things to be grateful for and thankful for. I give all the credit to my coaches and my teammates. It’s hard flipping across the country from the West Coast and leaving your family. This place just took me in with open arms and took my family in. I’ve said it multiple times, this is the best place I could have picked and it definitely means a lot to go out with a home win like this with the guys that I came in here with. Honestly, I am still trying to take in everything that has happened so far. The biggest word I could use is gratitude.”

On the video of the embrace with Lane Kiffin:

“I love coach Kiff (Lane Kiffin). He brought me in, had a vision for me, and helped develop me into the player that I am today. Our relationship has grown so much and I love him to death. I’d go to war for him any day of the week. The biggest thing is you try to come in and make your coaches happy and I try to do that every single day. I’m very thankful for him and I love him.”

On his pitch to the CFP Playoff committee:

“We are the team that showed we can beat anybody. My pitch is that you look at the conferences and you look at the schedule. Obviously, we slipped up some games and did things we were not supposed to do and that is going to bite us, but I definitely think without a doubt that we are one of the best teams in the country. I think you can go around and ask any coach that same question and go ask Kirby Smart what he thinks. I don’t know what is going to happen, but I know that if we get a shot, we are going to make a run out of it for sure.”

On breaking the Ole Miss passing yards program record:

“I haven’t thought about the record. I was more thinking about taking in all that I could of my last experience playing here. I tried to do it from day one this week to the Walk of Champions to the game. I just appreciate everything that this place has given to me. I hope that people can look back and see that I gave it my all. I think it was special, being able to wait until the Egg Bowl, the rivalry game, and come out with a win.”

On embracing the rivalry:

“My first year here, we lost and it was the worst thing ever. It carried on until we had to play them again. I remember after that game, I made a note to myself that I would never lose this game again. That was something that I really cared about and was really passionate about. There is a lot of hate in this rivalry and that is just how it is. I think I didn’t fully understand it until I experienced both sides of it. This was a game I had circled on my calendar from the start of last year and it’s always messy. I was just happy we were able to play with a win. I hate that school, so I was happy we could come out with a win.”

Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby

On Mississippi State’s defense:

“I thought defensively, our physicality was incredible. The way we flew around, our effort that we played with, outside of the one explosive run that we did give up. I thought our guys played really well. We are put in some really bad situations. To me the game comes down to two picks, we spot them three on the first drive of the game, then we muff the punt, and we get no points down there during the first and one at the one. It’s going to be really hard to beat a really good football team when those four things happen inside a game.”

On Michael Van Buren Jr. playing against a good defense:

“A ton of toughness, the guy plays the game the way you want him to play. There are so many things throughout that game that give us a chance for a different outcome. If we play a little cleaner, if we execute a little cleaner, if we do some things a little differently. So there are frustrating moments. I do think with him being as young as he is playing against people that he is having to play against, there is going to be incredible growth from this for him.”

On only winning two games this year:

“I think there are plenty of reasons from game to game. We were not a team that was able to keep momentum inside of a game. I’ve talked a ton about complementary football, and that will be a big piece of that along with being able to sustain. So, those are things as we get back and look at rebuilding the roster, that is going to be a huge part of it. Our development with our roster inside our program is something that has to change. Our scout teams have to upgrade in a huge way so that at practice you feel the pressure. We need to feel the strain that is a part of going on the road and winning games that we got to win inside this league. That’s a huge part of our development as a program and that’s something that has to get a lot better.”

On his main priorities in the transfer portal:

“From a portal standpoint, we are going to address a ton of needs. We need to do a really good job going to get the guys we need to get. There are going to be guys at every single position who have the ability to come in here and make an impact, and we are looking to constantly upgrade. We want to make our roster as good as we possibly can as fast as we possibly can. We have the ability to go do that and my staff and myself are ready to work incredibly hard to go do it and get it done.”

Mississippi State S Isaac Smith

On tonight’s loss:

“I wouldn’t even say this one stings, this one hurts. I feel like we played really good defensively and offensively. It just came down to a couple of big plays where they executed better than we did on our assignments. I think it gave us momentum going into next season knowing we can come out and play hard physical football. It shouldn’t be like this in just this game, it should be like this in every single game that we play.”

On what enabled Mississippi State’s defense to shut plays down:

“Our defensive line gets knocked back, we worked on them running the ball all week. We knew they would try to run the ball in our three safety shelves. It was just a matter of rallying to the ball and getting the guy on the ground.”

On the program’s future:

“From game one to now, I’ve always seen an increase in how we have been playing and the bond we have been building. I think we have to continue to keep doing that in the offseason. We have to work harder and be ready for next season. I know a lot of people are going to be looking forward to seeing what we do, especially after a season like this.”

Mississippi State LB Nic Mitchell

On playing against Jaxson Dart:

“We had to go out there and attack, and play with relentless effort. Just execute and play hard. We strained, we strained real hard tonight.”

On Zakari Tillman:

“He’s a baller. He’s electric, really one of a kind. You really don’t see a guy like that that can change a game. He can change a game at a linebacker position. He’s grown and he’s getting smarter and he’s going to keep getting better.”

Mississippi State C Ethan Miner

On how he feels emotionally:

“I cried a little bit, but I figured that was going to happen. It’s crazy how quick six years can go. I remember graduating from high school and thinking “I just did 4 years of high school and that felt like forever. Now I have to do it all over again.” Time is flying by and I’ve tried to be grateful through it all, despite how the season has gone. There is always something to be grateful for and it was a ride. I’m glad I got to do it here.”

On being shut down in the second half:

“I don’t think they were doing anything differently. They just play execution. They were twisting a lot. They were a really good defense. They had a lot of good guys on their D-Line. I’ve talked about it before, at the end of the day, it comes down to executing the play. I think we hurt ourselves a lot. We had some scenarios that we could have capitalized on and we didn’t take advantage of it. That hurt us in the long run.”

Mississippi State WR Jaden Walley

On their confidence to get plays:

“Our group of receivers feel like we have the upper hand in the conference and in the country. It was being able to create some space on the outside, and the inside, getting the ball there, and making the play.”

On positives they can take away:

“I think there are positives you can take away from any loss. A loss is just a lesson, you are supposed to learn from them. I think this is a big lesson for us. There were a lot of plays we could have prevented, and we shot ourselves in the foot a couple times. That’s the game of football, you just have to take it.”

On struggling after the first 14 points:

“I don’t think they did anything, it was more so us struggling to get the momentum back on our side. We had momentum, we lost it. In the football game, it’s hard to get momentum when you lose it. I think we need to do more moving forward, and we need to keep our foot on the gas when we have momentum. The play is there.”

On connecting on deep shots:

“We saw it on film going in. We went to attacking vertically and hitting those spots as much as we could. We had some players earlier miss some, but I think we did a good job.”