.png&width=32&height=32&type=webp)
The University of Mississippi Athletics
Lane Kiffin Weekly Press Conference
10/24/2022 | Football
OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss football head coach Lane Kiffin met with the media Monday to recap the Rebels' SEC road loss at LSU and preview next week's test at Texas A&M. A transcript can be found below…
Opening statement…
"This is really, I guess in a year, our first time of having a Monday after a loss, coming back to meet with the players and practice and stuff, so it's a new challenge for our guys, and the biggest key is that, one loss, you don't allow it to move into more losses. I look at the game and the final score, and you guys know I don't give coachspeak. I told them today, you look at the final score and think, 'Ok, well, they weren't ready to play. They came in and got dominated.' That wasn't the case. They started really well, didn't let the crowd affect them and got up 17-3. Even after a lot of stuff, four minutes left in the third quarter, going into score to take the lead and played really poorly for the next 19 minutes after the interception, on all three phases, but especially offense and defense. We can't let that beat us again. We've got to learn from it, we've got to improve in certain areas. We had too many penalties. Some poor decisions on ones. I tell our guys, you've got to understand, stadiums you play in, crews that you have, there are certain crews that officiate games differently. I'm not complaining. We just have to understand what it is. Like Alabama the week before had 17 penalties. We've got to do a better job with that, understanding all the things that go with that and definitely finish games better than we did. No time to sit around and mope with it. We're getting ready to go play probably one of the top five rosters in America. I think eight 5-star players a year ago, most ever. These guys are ultra-talented, and we're going to play in one of the top-five hardest places to play. That's a combination, obviously, that makes you have to do a lot of things right in order to have a chance to win. We've got a lot of work to do this week and got to get better."
On how the team responded to the loss at practice…
"It was just a walkthrough, but I think they were good. Just pointing out, here's the things we did really well in the game, and here's where we fell apart. Just like when we play a really good 19 minutes, we can't let that define us and say, 'Oh, we're great now.' Just like when you play a really bad 19 minutes, we can't let that make us lose our confidence and we're no good all of a sudden. We've got to do better in a lot of areas—penalties, red zone, I think we were 2-of-5, only two touchdowns down there five times. We did not run the ball like we would like to. Overplayed Quinshon Judkins because Zach Evans wasn't available and Ulysses Bentley IV really was questionable and limited. I think he played 71 plays or something like that. That's not ideal. Hopefully we'll get healthy to help that. Just got to do a better job in a lot of areas."
On if rotation on the O-line creates difficulty…
"No. We only rotated one guy. Certainly don't think that has anything to do with it."
On getting a team to respond after a loss…
"I've said it, when you play really talented players and programs, they will expose certain areas. That's why when you play one of them super early or open with them, you learn more about issues that you have, and sometimes they can be hidden until you go play one of, like I said last week, a program like the next three. They make recruiting rankings for a reason, and obviously those have a lot to do with winning and draft picks. When you play really good players, you've got to do things really well, or you can't get away with some things you can against some of the personnel we played against early in the year."
On concerns about the defense…
"We've got to tackle better. Certainly hasn't helped Cedric Johnson not being available at all to weeks ago, and being very limited. He tried to play but wasn't himself. Then Troy Brown in both games having to come out due to injuries. Those are two really significant players. We've got to tackle better and limit explosive plays, which is what we had done really well early in the year. We showed them some film today just to make sure. Here's something from two weeks ago and three weeks ago the Kentucky game, how well we played and the energy we played with and gang tackling. It's not like we have to come up with it out of nowhere. We've done it."
On growing pains of having a freshman-heavy team…
"I don't know that anybody does because no one has had a class like the one he was able to sign. You'd have to ask him that. A lot of those guys play and play very significant snaps, and they're elite players. You'd have to ask him that."
On Texas A&M…
"I think they'll be very excited to play, and they're coming home after being on the road for a long time. Their crowd is always one of the hardest places to play in the country. I'm sure they'll come and be ready to get back on the winning track. Like Jimbo said, they were close in the game, it's not like they got blown out. They did some really good things to come back and make it a game in the end. At times they've played great defense throughout the year. It's going to be a big challenge."
On Taylor Swift's new album and if he has a favorite song off of it…
"I kind of feel like I shouldn't go into which favorite song. That will start all the social media with why I picked that because there is kind of a reason behind it. I'll give it to you after a win not a loss. Because then you guys will write good things about it when I say it."
If the team got complacent after the hot start…
"I don't know. I don't want to magnify things just because you lose a game. Just like I don't magnify that we're great after we win a game. I said it, like you referred to, there were signs of these coming. Once we had to drop back, some protection things, and the tackling on defense and limiting easy completions that turn into explosive plays. Those were magnified, and that's what happens. When you go play really good players in a really hard environment, your weaknesses get magnified. We're going to have the same thing this week if we don't fix it."
On if the team lacked an edge late in the game…
"I think that's fair. I don't give coachspeak and say no like everyone else does. I don't like how we responded after the interception, which is why crowd noise is important and a factor. Just like we say, we want it here, which we've had the last couple of games. Left tackle is turning to talk to the tight end and the ball is snapped, his back runs through and hits Jaxson Dart so he can't throw the fade to Malik Heath, and we get an interception. I do not like how we responded on offense or defense after that. Especially late in the game when we weren't going to win. You never like that. That's obviously what we like to do is run the ball in the end and finish the game out. They did a great job of it."
On preventing overusing Judkins…
"I think, surprisingly, when you watch, you actually don't see it. When he's in the last series of the game, and we showed the team, the game doesn't matter at that point. If you let the scoreboard affect how you play. You're going to worry about getting hurt, not finishing runs. That last drive, he's running over a guy to get two extra yards. I think he's just really special and was able to do that. Now, you can't do that every game. That will eventually ware on you. He's just a unique kid and unique mindset to be able to do that."
On if having Evans out altered the playcalling strategy…
"There's a little bit there. We had really made a decision moving forward not to run the quarterback very much, so you didn't see him run very much in that game or moving forward, just from long-term thoughts with that. Obviously, it would be nice to have the full healthy backfield when you do that."
Opening statement…
"This is really, I guess in a year, our first time of having a Monday after a loss, coming back to meet with the players and practice and stuff, so it's a new challenge for our guys, and the biggest key is that, one loss, you don't allow it to move into more losses. I look at the game and the final score, and you guys know I don't give coachspeak. I told them today, you look at the final score and think, 'Ok, well, they weren't ready to play. They came in and got dominated.' That wasn't the case. They started really well, didn't let the crowd affect them and got up 17-3. Even after a lot of stuff, four minutes left in the third quarter, going into score to take the lead and played really poorly for the next 19 minutes after the interception, on all three phases, but especially offense and defense. We can't let that beat us again. We've got to learn from it, we've got to improve in certain areas. We had too many penalties. Some poor decisions on ones. I tell our guys, you've got to understand, stadiums you play in, crews that you have, there are certain crews that officiate games differently. I'm not complaining. We just have to understand what it is. Like Alabama the week before had 17 penalties. We've got to do a better job with that, understanding all the things that go with that and definitely finish games better than we did. No time to sit around and mope with it. We're getting ready to go play probably one of the top five rosters in America. I think eight 5-star players a year ago, most ever. These guys are ultra-talented, and we're going to play in one of the top-five hardest places to play. That's a combination, obviously, that makes you have to do a lot of things right in order to have a chance to win. We've got a lot of work to do this week and got to get better."
On how the team responded to the loss at practice…
"It was just a walkthrough, but I think they were good. Just pointing out, here's the things we did really well in the game, and here's where we fell apart. Just like when we play a really good 19 minutes, we can't let that define us and say, 'Oh, we're great now.' Just like when you play a really bad 19 minutes, we can't let that make us lose our confidence and we're no good all of a sudden. We've got to do better in a lot of areas—penalties, red zone, I think we were 2-of-5, only two touchdowns down there five times. We did not run the ball like we would like to. Overplayed Quinshon Judkins because Zach Evans wasn't available and Ulysses Bentley IV really was questionable and limited. I think he played 71 plays or something like that. That's not ideal. Hopefully we'll get healthy to help that. Just got to do a better job in a lot of areas."
On if rotation on the O-line creates difficulty…
"No. We only rotated one guy. Certainly don't think that has anything to do with it."
On getting a team to respond after a loss…
"I've said it, when you play really talented players and programs, they will expose certain areas. That's why when you play one of them super early or open with them, you learn more about issues that you have, and sometimes they can be hidden until you go play one of, like I said last week, a program like the next three. They make recruiting rankings for a reason, and obviously those have a lot to do with winning and draft picks. When you play really good players, you've got to do things really well, or you can't get away with some things you can against some of the personnel we played against early in the year."
On concerns about the defense…
"We've got to tackle better. Certainly hasn't helped Cedric Johnson not being available at all to weeks ago, and being very limited. He tried to play but wasn't himself. Then Troy Brown in both games having to come out due to injuries. Those are two really significant players. We've got to tackle better and limit explosive plays, which is what we had done really well early in the year. We showed them some film today just to make sure. Here's something from two weeks ago and three weeks ago the Kentucky game, how well we played and the energy we played with and gang tackling. It's not like we have to come up with it out of nowhere. We've done it."
On growing pains of having a freshman-heavy team…
"I don't know that anybody does because no one has had a class like the one he was able to sign. You'd have to ask him that. A lot of those guys play and play very significant snaps, and they're elite players. You'd have to ask him that."
On Texas A&M…
"I think they'll be very excited to play, and they're coming home after being on the road for a long time. Their crowd is always one of the hardest places to play in the country. I'm sure they'll come and be ready to get back on the winning track. Like Jimbo said, they were close in the game, it's not like they got blown out. They did some really good things to come back and make it a game in the end. At times they've played great defense throughout the year. It's going to be a big challenge."
On Taylor Swift's new album and if he has a favorite song off of it…
"I kind of feel like I shouldn't go into which favorite song. That will start all the social media with why I picked that because there is kind of a reason behind it. I'll give it to you after a win not a loss. Because then you guys will write good things about it when I say it."
If the team got complacent after the hot start…
"I don't know. I don't want to magnify things just because you lose a game. Just like I don't magnify that we're great after we win a game. I said it, like you referred to, there were signs of these coming. Once we had to drop back, some protection things, and the tackling on defense and limiting easy completions that turn into explosive plays. Those were magnified, and that's what happens. When you go play really good players in a really hard environment, your weaknesses get magnified. We're going to have the same thing this week if we don't fix it."
On if the team lacked an edge late in the game…
"I think that's fair. I don't give coachspeak and say no like everyone else does. I don't like how we responded after the interception, which is why crowd noise is important and a factor. Just like we say, we want it here, which we've had the last couple of games. Left tackle is turning to talk to the tight end and the ball is snapped, his back runs through and hits Jaxson Dart so he can't throw the fade to Malik Heath, and we get an interception. I do not like how we responded on offense or defense after that. Especially late in the game when we weren't going to win. You never like that. That's obviously what we like to do is run the ball in the end and finish the game out. They did a great job of it."
On preventing overusing Judkins…
"I think, surprisingly, when you watch, you actually don't see it. When he's in the last series of the game, and we showed the team, the game doesn't matter at that point. If you let the scoreboard affect how you play. You're going to worry about getting hurt, not finishing runs. That last drive, he's running over a guy to get two extra yards. I think he's just really special and was able to do that. Now, you can't do that every game. That will eventually ware on you. He's just a unique kid and unique mindset to be able to do that."
On if having Evans out altered the playcalling strategy…
"There's a little bit there. We had really made a decision moving forward not to run the quarterback very much, so you didn't see him run very much in that game or moving forward, just from long-term thoughts with that. Obviously, it would be nice to have the full healthy backfield when you do that."
Players Mentioned
RB
/ Football
LB
/ Football
QB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
DE
/ Football
RB
/ FootballPete Golding and Chris Malloy Join Paul Finebaum (04-29-26)
Wednesday, April 29
PRESSER | Oscar Bird (04-28-36)
Tuesday, April 28
PRESSER | Lucas Carneiro (04-28-26)
Tuesday, April 28
PRESSER | Pete Golding (04-27-26)
Monday, April 27