9/29/2023 football Edit

Lane Kiffin previews Ole Miss' matchup with LSU

Luke Hubbard • Death Valley Insider

Analyst

Lane Kiffin took over as head coach at Ole Miss in December of 2019 after the Rebels finished the season with a 4-8 record and went 2-6 in SEC play. Since arriving, Kiffin has brought a new life to the Rebels football team and has them ranked on a pretty consistent basis.

In his three games against LSU, Kiffin has led the Rebels to a 1-2 record, with their only win coming in 2021. Every time these two teams matchup, it's been a shootout. Seven of their past eight games ended with a combined 55 or more points, and this year, it'll likely be no different.

The Rebels played Alabama last Saturday and looked primed to take down Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide after their poor performance against USF, but as always, Nick Saban beat one of his old assistants and made Ole Miss' offense look completely lost on the field.

Coming off the loss to Alabama, Ole Miss is 0-1 in SEC play and now has to face another SEC juggernaut in LSU.

Kiffin spoke in his weekly teleconference about the challenge his team faces this weekend as they try to avoid a 0-2 start in SEC play.

"Well it's a really big challenge for us. Great team coming in, one of the best offenses in the country. These guys have phenomenal players everywhere you look. We're going to have to have a great home crowd, we're going to have to play really well and we're excited about the challenge."

— Lane Kiffin

After a team suffers a loss like Ole Miss did last week, there's usually a little fire under all the players and coaching staff. Teams will often practice and prepare harder for next weeks game and it typically shows on the field.

Take Arkansas for example. They had just lost a heartbreaker to BYU at home before coming to Death Valley and giving the Tigers a run for their money. There's no doubt Kiffin and the Rebels won't be fired up for this game, especially for a game many consider a rivalry.

"it's been great. Guys have been locked in, focused on a huge game, big rivalry around here. Last time they were here we won and it was exciting, so we're just trying to do the same thing again."

— Lane Kiffin

One thing the Rebels are going to have to do if they want a chance to dethrone LSU is shut down Jayden Daniels. Outside of the FSU game, Daniels has looked better than he ever has in his collegiate career, and Kiffin knows they need to find a way to force him to turn the ball over, but that's a lot easier said than done.

"He's been really consistent early on. He sort of, like a lot of young quarterbacks, had hit and miss games. But now he's really limited those mistakes and has an extremely high completion percentage, and obviously he's an issue when he gets out and runs too."

— Lane Kiffin

Staying on the offensive side of the ball, Kiffin was asked about what he saw from the tape of the LSU vs. Arkansas game on Saturday. He saw some spots where Ole Miss can likely attack this defense based on what KJ Jefferson did, but he also saw just how great this LSU offense is.

"I thought that, we're not playing Arkansas, but I thought KJ [Jefferson] had a really good second half, made a lot of plays. LSU's offense was unstoppable in the second half and they're going to be challenging to stop."

— Lane Kiffin

The Rebels defense is going to have a their hands full trying to stop this LSU offense. Their defense is yet to allow an opponent to score 30+ points in a game this year, but LSU's offense is a different beast than many they've played so far.

If Ole Miss wants to avoid falling to 0-2 in SEC play, they'll have to score a lot of points, but luckily for them, that's what the do best. It should be a tightly contested ball game and both teams desperately need to win this one if they want a chance at winning the SEC West.