OXFORD -- Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin met with the media, discussing the ninth-ranked Rebels' 22-19 win over then-No. 7 Kentucky this past Saturday and previewing Saturday's 3 p.m. meeting with Vanderbilt.
Here's a look at what Kiffin said -- and maybe, just maybe, what he meant -- during Monday's press conference.
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Opening statement…
What he said:
"Recapping the game, first off, the crowd was really to our advantage. Which is what the goal has been. It impacts recruiting. You hear it from recruits, what they say after games. Not just what maybe you think when they watch on TV, but when they're here. And it impacted the game. There's three penalties on them on offense—two false starts and an illegal shift, not being set—that could be credited to the crowd. You could say they won the game. That's the way we want it to be. So that's an awesome job. Like we tell our players, do it again. Not getting ahead of this week, but next home game, same time, same network, same everything, so let's redo that from an atmosphere standpoint the exact same way—regardless of what teams are ranked or any of that. It dramatically impacts our program, besides just the players I mentioned in recruiting. It's huge. So let's do it again.”
What he meant: A week after Kiffin challenged the fans, he praised them. He even practically gave the fans credit for the victory before challenging them to show up and do it again for the Auburn game in 12 days. I mean, that’s more than fair.
On the win over Kentucky…
What he said:
"As far as the play on the field, our defense was probably better than we even felt it was. Watching the film, we just missed some tackles, some poor tackling techniques, but we really made a ton of significant plays. Played extremely physical with really great effort. We had some high-effort plays on there, from sacks to the safety. That was great to see. Not a good offensive second half, and we've got to close people out. Regardless of rankings, any of that. When you have a chance to finish off games, and maybe even earlier than that. We go up 14-0 and let a kickoff return give them all the momentum. There's tons of times in there where you can make a game so it's not close in the end, and we did not do that. Your analytics will catch up to you that way, when you play a bunch of games like that, that come down to one play here or there. That's not what you want to do. Glad that we won. Glad that we were able to show them today how this could've gone in other ways and how we have to get better in all these areas.
What he meant: One of the things I like about Kiffin is just the pragmatic honesty. He’s right. If you play four down-to-the-wire games, odds are you’re going to lose two. When you have a chance to finish teams, do it. Ole Miss had a couple of chances to make Saturday more comfortable and didn’t do it. They survived against Kentucky, but if you keep playing with fire, well, you know the rest.
On Quinshon Judkins and Micah Pettus earning SEC weekly honors…
What he said:
"Judkins was Freshman of the Week. He did play well. And Micah Pettus was the Offensive Lineman of the Week, which, I don't know how they come up with that, but they got that right. He did play great for a first start, he played great whether it was his first start or not. Really physical, how we talk about straining to finish, finishing people with a violent attitude, and that was awesome to see. So we pointed him out today in film, told our players again, this is how you're supposed to do in this program. You work hard, you wait for your turn, you don't complain. The guy did exactly that, and when his turn came up, he made the most of it.”
What he meant: Kiffin used this question to send a message to recruits. If you sign with Ole Miss, he’s saying, and you put in the work and you’re the best player, you’ll play. It’s establishing culture within the program and sending a message to those considering it. It’s actually brilliant.
On offensive struggles in the second half…
What he said:
"Well there's some red zone, which a year ago was an issue. We were very poor in the red zone, even though we scored a lot of points for the season. We had done really well in the red zone this year. Not finishing off drives. We've got a number of plays where just one thing here or there. Some more runs can really break if we're just patient with them and hit where they're supposed to go. We've got to finish off drives. I'm not complaining about it. There are games that you get breaks, and there are games where you don't get breaks. From the referee part, a lot of things went against us. Very close calls that can go either way, and you're going to have some games where you benefit from that. We've got to not leave it up to that and make the plays ourselves.”
What he meant: There’s not much to add. He complained about officiating without complaining about it. No one at the league office is going to get worked up over that. Obviously, Kiffin believes the offense is close to figuring some things out.
On Micah Pettus…
What he said:
"Probably as big of a development as we've been around over a year. From a guy who came here, redshirted, looked a long way away from playing a year ago. I asked him this summer when he was doing so much better early in camp, he looked so much better. He said, like a lot of these kids, it was the first time in his life not playing and not traveling. He just reflected on all of his habits and his work ethic and just completely changed himself mentally and physically. It's awesome to see. Not too many times you've got two freshman tackles and a guy has to make his first start in a big SEC game and play that well.”
What he meant: I wrote about Pettus earlier today. It’s a cool story, one Kiffin will likely use with others on the roster and in the future as a motivational tool.
On Caleb Warren's health, the center position…
What he said:
"He was not 100 percent. He was kind of in emergency-only situation, and the snaps kind of put us in that situation. Now, we obviously communicated with him, he felt really good in warm-ups after not really doing anything all week. He said he was ready to go. So he went in there not 100 percent. Even with him, the snaps have been an issue. They were definitely an issue in the game. That's hard to play quarterback. There are some things where we want to get down on (Dart) on reading a play. He's got to read the end whether to give the ball for a touchdown or not, and when you watch it again, he's down here looking for the ball. The snaps are very important. I think we did something today that I think will help. We'll see if it does Saturday.”
What he meant: Until Warren came in late in the second quarter, snaps were a nightmare. Dart was having to play shortstop before he played quarterback. I don’t think Ole Miss wins without Warren playing. It was that big of an issue. I’m curious to see what got done on Monday morning to help. I have no idea. I mean, it’s either the quarterback is getting under the center more or they found someone who can snap. No clue.
On not overlooking Vanderbilt coming off a Top 10 win…
What he said:
"We spent a lot of time this morning on that. Just like last week, we said, you've got to prepare the same regardless. Last week, everybody built up the game and everything. Told them, it's a faceless opponent and that. It's not just when you play a team that's not ranked and you're heavily favored with. It's both ways. That way you avoid playing like this. Hopefully they listened. Happens every week. Like I told them, I don't think anybody thought Georgia was going to go in and struggle like they just did at Missouri. It happens every week. Every game is independent of each other. Now we teach them, as you see in our games, every quarter is independent of the quarter before, let alone games.”
What he meant: Here’s the challenge, and Kiffin knows it. One week after playing in a packed stadium against a top-10 team, they’re going to sleepy Vanderbilt to face a team that lost by 52 to Alabama. Still, you better be ready. Upsets are happening at a very regular pace. Ole Miss was up for Georgia Tech, a bit flat for Tulsa, locked in for Kentucky. Getting consistent is likely a next step for the Rebels.
On Jeremy James moving back to guard vs. Kentucky…
What he said:
"I don't know that exactly, where we're headed. The good thing is we have some guys that can play multiple positions, like him. Ideally, we'd really like to get more than five. The game has changed. This is just me, I've said it now for two years, I think the defenses have figured out the rotations up front to play tempo teams. They play their starting players 50-60 percent of the game, and they rotate. That has something to look at our fourth quarter scoring. There can't be many teams, if any, that have a bigger first half margin in scoring than what we do against our opponents. Then our fourth quarter is 17-7 or something like that—we've scored seven or 10 points. I do think part of that is slowing down when we're ahead, but I do think that, with the line, if we could rotate guys, that would be better. When we're playing play 75, play 80, at 300-some pounds, and the guy I'm playing against is on play 40. I think there's something to that, and I think it shows on the tape up front, how the end of the game up there looks versus the beginning of the game.”
What he meant: Interesting answer. The plan going in was to rotate linemen, if I recall correctly. It hasn’t happened. On Saturday, only six linemen played. Mason Brooks, who has played some in every game, only played special teams. And maybe that lack of rest during the game is contributing to the slow second halves. Kiffin is great about taking a micro-oriented question and answering in the macro with a big-picture answer. Defenses have adjusted somewhat to tempo and now offenses have to adjust to those adjustments.
On the play of his receivers thus far this season…
What he said:
"They've done a really good job, really a mixed group from all over the place. We are deeper there than we have been. That's really without Jaylon Robinson doing much because of injury. He's been hurt in camp and most of this season. He's back to full strength now. That group, just like this team like I've said, has a chance to be really special. It's like all these NBA free agents coming together, and they usually play better at the end of the year when they've had more time together. I'm hoping we get better because of that. Because of guys getting used to how we do things and fitting in and getting more comfortable, and a new quarterback getting more comfortable with them.”
What he meant: Interesting answer on Robinson because the Rebels really need him. It’s just my opinion, but so far this season, I think this offense has lacked some explosive speed from the receiver position. Robinson was talked about as someone who could do some things similar to what Elijah Moore did at Ole Miss. The Rebels could use a poor man’s Moore right now.
On Quinshon Judkins' workload…
What he said:
"He's great. He was really struggling early in the week physically from all the pounding two weeks ago, but he was better by the end of the week. He was good today even though it was a walkthrough. He didn't take the pounding that he took the week before. He's doing a phenomenal job.”
What he meant: Yeah, Judkins is a star.
On Jaxson Dart vs. Kentucky…
What he said:
"I think Jaxson, outside of the interception, which was horrible, did the big things really well. Made some really big throws, some really off-balance throws, having to fade back and lobbing them over there. There were some little things that really could've broken the game open if he would've done right. That will come as he gets more experience, but I thought that, for a game like that, that he did really well.”
What he meant: Another answer regarding Dart that shows Kiffin sees what most of us are seeing — a young quarterback who is improving every week and is only going to get better. Still, he’s going to make mistakes. Young quarterbacks do.
On being the fastest coach to reach 20 wins at Ole Miss since Vaught…
What he said:
"I don't know. I don't think about those things. There's a lot of old years that get floated around of this hasn't been done before and the home winning streak and all of that. We're just trying to get to 1-0 each week. And if you do have really good records, that means that you've got really good coaches and players around you. We've got a lot of work to do. As we all know, the schedule was lighter up front than it is at the end, so we've got to improve and get better.”
What he meant: I got a kick out of this answer. Kiffin isn’t thinking about Johnny Vaught. He isn’t thinking about streaks or weeks ranked or any of that. He wants to win big and he’s obsessed with the process required to get to that point. And he’s right about the schedule; it’s going to get really hard here soon, and he needs his team laser-focused on approach, not records and such.
On Chris Partridge going viral…
What he said:
"That was pretty unique. That was really cool. I was excited after the game but then I kind of always have that, after 30 minutes I come back and get mad about what we could've done better and finish the game out on offense and not have to go through all of that. I actually saw that video and it made me smile. That was really cool to see. Then I found a picture of Charlie's baby, and he kind of has the same look on his face that Charlie did when he was hugging Partridge, so I sent that to the staff. It was pretty cool. Son Maverick and Charlie and they looked exactly alike with their face.”
What he meant: Just a cool answer, really. It also shows you this staff has a nice camaraderie.
On the play of Judkins…
What he said:
"It's just unique. You would not guess that being around him. His personality is very calm, very quiet. So you wouldn't, personality-wise, guess that. The most unique we had was Troy Polamalu. He was unbelievable off the field, and then the switch would go and he would just want to knock everybody out on the field. Q kind of reminds me of that off the field. It's really neat. He was raised really well.”
What he meant: That’s hearty praise being put in the same conversation with the former USC and Pittsburgh Steelers great. I doubt Kiffin puts him in that company unless he means it.
On Vanderbilt's improvement…
What he said:
"Yeah, definitely than my first year. They're way better. The scores of our game the first year versus on the road up there, they really struggled in a lot of areas. Then last year, they were competitive. I always say, an Alabama or Georgia game can be an outlier, especially when it's one of the years when they've got a great quarterback. You can't take that into consideration. Their personnel is so great, that once it gets rolling, the game gets lopsided. They've been very competitive outside of that game.”
What he meant: I was curious if Kiffin saw the same thing on film that I’m hearing from others regarding Vanderbilt, and he answered in the affirmative. Clark Lea has done a great job at Vanderbilt, even if the numbers don’t bear it out. Watch them on TV and they look different than the end of the Derek Mason era.
