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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Football Practice Report: Week 5
10/21/2020 | Football
Kiffin Previews Saturday's Meeting with Auburn
OXFORD, Miss. – The Ole Miss football team returned to the practice field this week, looking to turn the page after last weekend's defeat at Arkansas.
After last weekend's arduous road trip, the Rebels are ready to be back at home playing in The Vaught, and hopefully playing a cleaner game as Lane Kiffin told the media Wednesday.
"We've tried to move on from that game," Kiffin said. "It was disappointing on a lot of things. Really feel like if we would've played, not perfect, but just played well, we could've won that game. It was just a crazy game, crazy trip. Our plane broke down on Friday so we ended up staying here and doing meetings here then went there late Friday night and it started into a lot of bad breaks and a lot of self-inflicted ones as well. So let's get back on track this week and play a lot cleaner."
This week, Ole Miss will host an Auburn team that is also hungry for a victory coming off a 30-22 defeat at South Carolina. Despite the Tigers' 2-2 record, Kiffin knows the Rebels will have their hands full when Gus Malzahn's team comes to town Saturday.
"Great program coming in here," Kiffin said. "A lot of history of great programs, great teams. Big challenge for us. They've been recruiting at an elite level for a long time. Really good challenge for us to play well and play a lot better than last week."
The Rebels were able to avoid turnovers the first three games of the season, coughing it up just once—an interception off a tipped pass—against Florida, Kentucky and Alabama. However, the turnover bug bit hard as the Razorbacks scored 24 of their 33 points off of seven Rebel turnovers. Against an aggressive Tiger defense, Kiffin knows his squad must get back to basics with ball security.
"Defensively, Kevin Steele has been around a long time," Kiffin said. "Runs a similar system to Alabama. They seem to always have elite defensive linemen, front seven players. Glad the guy from last year (Derrick Brown) ain't playing, watching that film, he's a lot of havoc. Not a lot of people blocking him. Glad he's gone. But they always get great players."
Coming into the season, Auburn looked to linebacker K.J. Britt as its foremost leader on the defensive side of the ball, but thumb surgery will have him sidelined this weekend. With Britt out, Zakoby McClain and Owen Pappoe will likely lead the way for the Tigers. The duo has combined for 78 tackles this season, including 4.5 tackles for loss and four sacks. Even with Britt out, Kiffin expects an aggressive multiple defense taking the field for the visiting team Saturday.
"Kevin is very aggressive. We played him when he was at LSU also, and he was at Alabama when we were there as well," Kiffin said. "Once he kind of gets you, he keeps coming at you and attacks your protections with a lot of multiple looks. He does a great job, the reason the guy makes a lot of money. I tell the guys you've got to change and evolve and study week to week because this conference doesn't just sit there and play the same defense on you every week. They know what they're doing."
Meanwhile, the Rebel defense will look to build off of a strong performance last weekend against Arkansas. Despite the turnovers coming from the offensive side of the ball, the Rebel defense managed to limit the Hogs to 442 total yards, Ole Miss' best defensive mark of the season.
This week, they'll be tasked with stopping the reigning SEC Freshman of the Year in quarterback Bo Nix. The dual-threat signal-caller has struggled a bit through the air this season, posting just a 54.9 completion percentage with 869 yards, five touchdowns and four interceptions in 142 attempts. Nix has also added 141 yards and a score on the ground.
Nix, Tank Bigsby and D.J. Williams spearhead a dangerous Auburn rushing attack. The Tigers are averaging 4.6 yards per carry, paced by Bigsby who boasts 303 rushing yards and a score on the year, running at an average of 6.1 yards per touch. Though Nix hasn't been quite as sharp through the air, Kiffin still knows the threat he poses and how lethal the Auburn ground game can be.
"Really competitive. Very strong arm," Kiffin said of Nix. "Can really take off and run with the ball too, which we haven't done great with that this season. Very big challenge and a team that's always—if you don't stop the run, you're going to get 50 carries. That's always how Gus has been. They're very physical and downhill with the way they run. You better stop them or the game gets long."
The Rebels and Tigers will meet at 11 a.m. CT at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. The contest is set to air on SEC Network.
After last weekend's arduous road trip, the Rebels are ready to be back at home playing in The Vaught, and hopefully playing a cleaner game as Lane Kiffin told the media Wednesday.
"We've tried to move on from that game," Kiffin said. "It was disappointing on a lot of things. Really feel like if we would've played, not perfect, but just played well, we could've won that game. It was just a crazy game, crazy trip. Our plane broke down on Friday so we ended up staying here and doing meetings here then went there late Friday night and it started into a lot of bad breaks and a lot of self-inflicted ones as well. So let's get back on track this week and play a lot cleaner."
This week, Ole Miss will host an Auburn team that is also hungry for a victory coming off a 30-22 defeat at South Carolina. Despite the Tigers' 2-2 record, Kiffin knows the Rebels will have their hands full when Gus Malzahn's team comes to town Saturday.
"Great program coming in here," Kiffin said. "A lot of history of great programs, great teams. Big challenge for us. They've been recruiting at an elite level for a long time. Really good challenge for us to play well and play a lot better than last week."
The Rebels were able to avoid turnovers the first three games of the season, coughing it up just once—an interception off a tipped pass—against Florida, Kentucky and Alabama. However, the turnover bug bit hard as the Razorbacks scored 24 of their 33 points off of seven Rebel turnovers. Against an aggressive Tiger defense, Kiffin knows his squad must get back to basics with ball security.
"Defensively, Kevin Steele has been around a long time," Kiffin said. "Runs a similar system to Alabama. They seem to always have elite defensive linemen, front seven players. Glad the guy from last year (Derrick Brown) ain't playing, watching that film, he's a lot of havoc. Not a lot of people blocking him. Glad he's gone. But they always get great players."
Coming into the season, Auburn looked to linebacker K.J. Britt as its foremost leader on the defensive side of the ball, but thumb surgery will have him sidelined this weekend. With Britt out, Zakoby McClain and Owen Pappoe will likely lead the way for the Tigers. The duo has combined for 78 tackles this season, including 4.5 tackles for loss and four sacks. Even with Britt out, Kiffin expects an aggressive multiple defense taking the field for the visiting team Saturday.
"Kevin is very aggressive. We played him when he was at LSU also, and he was at Alabama when we were there as well," Kiffin said. "Once he kind of gets you, he keeps coming at you and attacks your protections with a lot of multiple looks. He does a great job, the reason the guy makes a lot of money. I tell the guys you've got to change and evolve and study week to week because this conference doesn't just sit there and play the same defense on you every week. They know what they're doing."
Meanwhile, the Rebel defense will look to build off of a strong performance last weekend against Arkansas. Despite the turnovers coming from the offensive side of the ball, the Rebel defense managed to limit the Hogs to 442 total yards, Ole Miss' best defensive mark of the season.
This week, they'll be tasked with stopping the reigning SEC Freshman of the Year in quarterback Bo Nix. The dual-threat signal-caller has struggled a bit through the air this season, posting just a 54.9 completion percentage with 869 yards, five touchdowns and four interceptions in 142 attempts. Nix has also added 141 yards and a score on the ground.
Nix, Tank Bigsby and D.J. Williams spearhead a dangerous Auburn rushing attack. The Tigers are averaging 4.6 yards per carry, paced by Bigsby who boasts 303 rushing yards and a score on the year, running at an average of 6.1 yards per touch. Though Nix hasn't been quite as sharp through the air, Kiffin still knows the threat he poses and how lethal the Auburn ground game can be.
"Really competitive. Very strong arm," Kiffin said of Nix. "Can really take off and run with the ball too, which we haven't done great with that this season. Very big challenge and a team that's always—if you don't stop the run, you're going to get 50 carries. That's always how Gus has been. They're very physical and downhill with the way they run. You better stop them or the game gets long."
The Rebels and Tigers will meet at 11 a.m. CT at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. The contest is set to air on SEC Network.
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