OXFORD -- Lane Kiffin was late for his weekly press conference Monday.

The Ole Miss coach had a phone call with Southeastern Conference officials. And then, before he sat down to conduct the Zoom call with reporters, Kiffin said he had to take a quick power yoga class to collect himself before opening his mouth publicly.

Kiffin may or may not have been joking about the power yoga class, but he clearly didn't like what he was told by the league office in Birmingham.

Ole Miss had taken a 28-27 lead with 5:43 left Saturday. Luke Logan's kickoff appeared to deflect off the finger of Auburn returner Shaun Shivers. The ball rolled into the end zone where it was recovered by Ole Miss' Tylan Knight as two officials blew their whistles and signaled a touchback.

Kiffin said he asked officials if he needed to challenge the play. However, the official told Kiffin the replay officials had already looked at the play and didn't see anything worth reviewing further.

On Monday, however, Kiffin talked to SEC head of officiating John McDaid. League policy, Kiffin said, forbids him from divulging the contents of that conversation, but Kiffin clearly wanted to talk.

"I really wish for our fans that they could hear what I was just told," Kiffin said. "I think they deserve to."

As of this writing, the SEC has not released a statement about the call, which would have, assuming a made extra point, given Ole Miss an eight-point lead going into the final minutes. Kiffin was clearly bothered by the lack of transparency from the league.

"You know what I'd really like?" Kiffin said. "I'd really like it when if you guys ask me a question about managing a game or how I played players to just say, 'That's a personal thing. I can't discuss it with you.' I would really to be able to answer those questions like that."

Ole Miss (1-4) plays at Vanderbilt (0-3) Saturday at 3 p.m. in Nashville. The game will be televised by the SEC Network.

Ole Miss has now had difficult times finishing out games against Alabama, Arkansas and Auburn. The loss to the Tigers might have been the toughest to accept, as the Rebels had chances on both sides of the ball to finish the game and couldn't do it.

Kiffin said he was thinking recently about his first team as an assistant at USC, one that started poorly but finished on a five-game winning streak, catapulting the program into national prominence.

"They just came together," Kiffin said. "We were playing a lot of young players on defense at that time and then last half of the season we just started playing better. This team could go on a great run here these last five games. We just have to put it together and play better."

"As a team, we're really focusing on finishing the game," Ole Miss safety A.J. Finley said. "Late in practice, we always have a two-minute period and we always get tired and stuff. We come into practice and work on finishing the game. ...We're right there in every game. We just have to go out and finish."

Ole Miss center Ben Brown said said it's just a matter of focusing on doing jobs to completion.

"On offense (Saturday), we didn't execute well with four minutes (remaining) and on defense, we weren't able to get the stop," Brown said. "I think the biggest thing this week is executing at crucial times and being able to close out a game."

Brown said the Rebels have a "bitter taste" in their mouths after five games.

"We can talk about being a good football team, which we are, but we have to be able to execute and finish these games, which we're very capable of doing," Brown said.

-- Kiffin said Ole Miss will get its players back from COVID-19 protocols this week, including defensive lineman Tariqious Tisdale and defensive back Jakorey Hawkins. Both players apparently never tested positive and had no symptoms but were forced to sit out due to contact tracing protocols. If the players had tested positive, they would've been cleared after 10 days.

"I've told you all along I don't understand that," Kiffin said.

-- Kiffin said he hasn't talked to safety Jaylon Jones, who is out for the season, about possibly returning for next season. Kiffin said that conversation will happen eventually, as they will with all seniors on the roster.