TRANSCRIPT | Everything Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin said after Rebels’ 24-21 win over Washington State: ‘This is not the standard that we play with here’

OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss gutted out a messy 24-21 win Saturday over Washington State at Vaught-Hemingway. After the game, head coach Lane Kiffin talked about the win, his expectations for the program, and to what he attributed the close game. The Rebels were 33-point favorites entering the contest.

Here’s everything Coach Kiffin had to say: 

Lane Kiffin’s opening statement

“You could have had this game go the wrong way at the end and really feel bad, so you know, that’s not lost. But, outside of that, just really not pleased how we performed today. Even after kind of messing around early and missing a field goal, not converting from the three yard line on fourth and goal, to come through all that and go up two scores with seven minutes left, and then put ourselves in a bad situation by letting them score a touchdown and then not finishing off the drive, like we had previously, and putting our defense back out there.

“So just really disappointed in that part. So it’s on me. Maybe I gotta figure out a better way on these 11 a.m. kicks because we had two losses last year on them, and, obviously didn’t play well today, so credit to them, too. Those guys played really well. You know, they took a lot of risk on defense and came through on a lot of them with all the blitz zero. We finally made a play to Cayden Lee late against it. And in the first play of the four-minute there to Dae’quan. But those guys played really hard, really physical after a long road trip here and really early kick for them. So, not to our standard. So I hope nobody’s pleased with that.

Question: Lane, how would you assess Trinidad’s performance today, and was there ever any thought of putting Austin in?

Lane: Trinidad started slow. You know, missed really critical in-route there that would have made up for it. You know third and long there. He did make some plays, especially on the drive at the end of the first half. But, overall he did some good things. Made a really critical play obviously on the scramble touchdown. But did not play consistently like he had. So, it is what it is. You know, you ain’t going to play perfect every week and he was still 20 of 29, two touchdowns throwing and one running. So did some good things but not as consistent as we need to be. And we weren’t around him especially in protection. You know, they took a lot of risks. Like I said, with some blitz zero, we had some guys which needed a little time. Um, and we weren’t able to get him off or we missed him.

Question: How would you assess Kewan’s day?

Lane: Yeah, probably the one guy that stood out on not a really good day as a team. Electric energy, making people miss. You had another really good run that got called back on a hold that really was a great effort run. And man, if we all played with that effort today, you know, we wouldn’t be feeling like this. So again, we survived. So you know maybe, you guys have heard me talk about reserving judgment of what’s bad and good. And maybe we’ll look back and say, this was good to have this game to wake us up and stop reading where we’re ranked and those things because, like I said, just on the radio, like we are ranked No. four, we looked about like the 84th team in the country throughout that game. So, quit reading the rat poison and make plays. Don’t get a penalty by hitting the quarterback in the head when we’re off the field and finish drives.

Question: What is your kind of overall assessment of the defensive line. I felt like the second half they started getting pressure. But really, Will Echoles was the one kind of leading up the pressure all day.

Lane: Yeah. They didn’t get a lot of opportunity, I felt, in the first half. I don’t know. For me, I felt like there weren’t a lot of third-down rush opportunities because they did a really good job and they milked the clock through the game. That’s what they do, especially in this game. And that can be really frustrating on the other side. But they didn’t really get a lot of opportunities. I felt got a little more in the second half, but and then made some some good rushes there at the end. But sometimes that’s we’re not blitzing a lot and playing coverage. So, I thought, came alive late. But those guys played really good, made a lot of plays. The quarterback played really good, which he had been. You know they had all three playing early and settled on this guy. And this guy had played really good lately.

Question: William Echoles, it just seems like comes on more and more every single week. Made a big play there at the end of the game. Just what have you seen from his growth and development over the course of the year?

Lane: Yeah, he’s really come on for a young player. And even where maybe early on he’s more of a run guy, and now he’s showed up to where we got him in passing situations. And, he’s done a really good job, really productive, plays really well. Doesn’t worry about all the stuff he has on or, you know, gold teeth he’s got in, he just lines up and plays, which is how it should be.

Question: De’Zhaun Stribling played one of his best games of the year. And Dae’Quan Wright again stepped up. Just your thoughts on the receiving corps today.

Lane: Yeah they didn’t get a ton of opportunities. You know, kind of missed two deep balls that would have been interesting if they would have been placed better for them to make the plays on. Obviously, Cayden Lee made a really big play late, which was really good. So I think they did alright.

Question: You alluded to it, finding a better way to approach these 11 a.m. kicks. Could you sense, I mean, how would you feel the energy was pregame with the team?

Lane: I don’t know. You know, we’re a morning practice format team. That should equate to playing well in the morning. Used to, but I didn’t feel like that. I thought our red zone offense showed up about like our student section did today. Very similar.

So, that’s on us. I told them all week, man, that the crowd probably won’t be what it’s been. You’re going to have to create your own energy, and you know, we did that a little bit, and I feel like the game if we finished that first drive had a really good feeling of one of those good games going to it. That’s why everything’s critical. We don’t finish that drive. They get some momentum to themselves (and then say) ‘hey we can stop these guys.’ So..

Question: You alluded to the team not playing up to the standard that you have for them, especially in the first half. The offense seemed dysrhythmic. Aside from what Washington State was throwing, blitz-wise, what did you see that was causing some of Trinidad and the receivers not being in sync?

Lane Kiffin: Yeah, I thought they did a good job. You know, they played really deep a lot of times on first and second down, which is why the runs were effective. And then they were very aggressive on third down with a lot of zero and blitz zero. And that’ll make you become Big Little in the game. You know, because you’re trying to throw double moves, you’re trying to beat them. They got to us a number of times, got some sacks in that, you know caused the fumble so we couldn’t get the field goal. And finally Cayden scores on one, so that forces the game to be a little bit non-rhythmic I guess as you say. But if you hit those early, then they get out of it. And we didn’t. We gave them momentum by letting them stay in some zero and some blitz zero and credit to them for staying aggressive.

Question: You kind of said it yourself that you were almost questioning how the energy was pregame. Would you attribute your performance more to the guys overlooking the opportunity or give more credit to Washington State and how they played?

Lane: I give a lot of credit to them, how they played. But again, I think momentum is so critical. You know, little things flip it. If we just finish that first drive, whatever, I’m guessing 75 yards, probably a touchback. So 75 yard drive instead of 72 yards, 7-0 feels different. You know, they kind of got to play a little different. And you know, you give them momentum. And then, that play in the third quarter, you know, we finally get him in a third and long. We stop him but we hit the quarterback in the head. Just absolutely completely undisciplined and that keeps them alive and they score a touchdown. And now, there’s a totally different feeling in the game versus we have the ball back versus them having seven points. So those things are really critical when you talk about momentum and energy.

Question: I know this, as you just alluded, isn’t the standard that you have for this team and for this program. But essentially, how do you kind of gauge these close games this year compared to some of the close games you lost last year? I mean, to look at it now, winning a close game like today, winning a close game like against LSU, winning a close game against Arkansas. What are some of the differences from your perspective in terms of the benefits of winning these close games this year, compared to some of the close games that you lost last year?

Lane: Well, they create a lot more stress and anxiety, probably on our fans too. Really, it is kind of strange. Almost all the games this year, if you look, you’ve had two-score leads and then we scored to get a two-score lead and then they go down and score. You know, I think as you look back to the year before, you know, you say, okay, we’re 0-3 in 1-score games, but I don’t think we ever even trailed by two scores in an entire season, which I don’t even know that stat if there’s anybody else in the country that did that last year.

So we kind of dominated ten games won by double digits or more, and then lost three close ones, two of which we were ahead almost the entire game. It’s a much different year, a much different team that we have. And this is more usual, you got to win close games and so luckily we’ve done that. But it’s not like we’re scoring right at the end, you know, to win. The good thing is they’re all two-score games, including Washington State, including LSU, Kentucky, Arkansas. I think they’re all two-score games right there where we stop them, you know, then you win by two scores or go and score again and win by three scores. So we gotta fix that. When we get up, we gotta close them out and not let them score. And now we’re in these dangerous one-score games.

Question: What was the message to the guys in the locker room after a game like this?

Lane Kiffin: Just really disappointed. Hope they don’t feel good about it. You know, we didn’t sing a song or any of that stuff. So I just wanted to make sure they understand this is not the standard that we play with here. You know, a lot of guys from different places maybe not used to what our standard is. And, that’s not what we’re supposed to do. We get paid a lot. They get paid a lot. And a lot of people come to our games. And that ain’t the product we’re supposed to put out.