What Lane Kiffin said

[aubiefifty 17,487]

What Lane Kiffin said after Ole Miss’ 31-20 loss to Auburn

By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com

5-6 minutes

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Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin reacts after Auburn stopped Mississippi on fourth down during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021 in Auburn, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)AP

Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss can’t seem to shake Auburn.

The 10th-ranked Rebels dropped their sixth straight game to the 18th-ranked Tigers on Saturday night, falling 31-20 at Jordan-Hare Stadium. The win for Auburn gave the program its biggest to date under first-year coach Bryan Harsin and kept the Tigers in the hunt for the SEC West crown.

Read more Auburn football: Instant analysis: Auburn knocks off Ole Miss for first top-10 win since 2019

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Ole Miss’ offense struggled on the Plains, particularly in the second half as Auburn’s defense answered the call and limited Kiffin’s offense to a lone field goal over the final two quarters. After the game, Kiffin met with the media via Zoom. Here’s a look at what the second-year Rebels coach had to say:

LANE KIFFIN, Ole Miss coach

Opening statement…

“Hats off to Auburn. They played really tough and it’s a very tough environment to play in. The crowd was great. Bo [Nix] made a lot of plays especially early on. I thought our defense, after struggling early, played exceptionally well. They gave us a bunch of chances offensively to win. We don’t make three fourth downs in the red zone and throw another interception, so that’s four times in the red zone with no points. That’s going to be hard to win. To be in an 11-point game with that says you must be doing something right on the other side of the ball, which we did on defense.

“Matt [Corral] battled to come back in and [Dontario] Drummond went down so Matt was down to none of his initial three receivers or initial tight end so really credit to Jahcour Pearson and Casey Kelly; strong, two walk on kids that really are doing a great job out there. Both had seven catches and there was 200 yards between the two of them. And very courageous by Matt to come back out. Just really a play he had not made since last year, like that. He’s human, you know? He made one and it’s unfortunate. And I think that’s it. It’s a product of forcing.

“You know you get frustrated when all of sudden we’re having three and outs to start the second half. That is a problem when you’re not getting a lot of plays made and the run game is not going well. It’s hard not to press, especially when they did.”

On Ole Miss’ red-zone issues...

“They did a good job but it wasn’t any special or good defense or anything. When you get in the red zone, space tightens down. If you’re not running the ball well, you’re going to have tight windows. You’ve got to make big plays and we didn’t do that. Obviously, you can sit here and say we should’ve kicked field goals but we made a lot of those. Converted more than anybody in the country. When it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work.”

On struggles with the run game tonight...

“I don’t think it takes a lot to figure out. If you lead the nation in rushing outside of triple-option teams coming into the game, your quarterback is limping and your receivers are hurt, it’s pretty easy to figure out what to do: Stack the box, stop the run, condense your rush lanes. Which is what they came out to do. They made you try to win outside. It’s a good plan by them. I think most of you would’ve done the same.

On when he realized Matt Corral could return from his ankle injury...

“I thought the way he came off that it was really bad, like, broken. So, I kind of had already gone to that place. So I was surprised he came back, especially came back to have some movement skill. Which was awesome. I was in the tank. Any time something like that happens you’re like ‘Well, we should’ve had a better play on the first down where he got hit or injured.’ It was obviously good to have him back there.”

On second-half defensive adjustments...

“I thought we played well by tackling. Bo (Nix) keeps drives alive, as you’ve seen like the LSU game. You can play good defense and be right there but you can’t tackle the guy. That happened to us early on. When he does that, they’re long sacks if you make them. He was getting out of them but then we started making some of them.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

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[Cardin Drake 1,961]

What Lane said....blah, blah, blah, blah......what Lane was thinking....damn it, if we would have won that game, I could of gotten the LSU job...

Kiffen will never change.

Edited October 31, 2021 by Cardin Drake

[aubiefifty 17,487]

15 minutes ago, Cardin Drake said:

What Lane said....blah, blah, blah, blah......what Lane was thinking....damn it, if we would have won that game, I could of gotten the LSU job...

Kiffen will never change.

he is fun at times but i am glad he is not our coach.

[CCTAU 3,366]

Kiffin is good for ole mrs. It’s go big or go home if you want to win there. 
Some of you act like he should be coaching as if he had a chance. 

Edited October 31, 2021 by CCTAU

[AUFightingSoldiers 686]

So corral is LIMPING pregame and you start him? Then he is carted to the locker room after getting hit and carried off the field so the very next drive he comes back in and you run 2 QB draws on that drive? 1 of 3 things is happening:

1. You're making BS excuses and using an injury from 3 weeks ago to save face

2. You care nothing about the long term career of your players.

Or 3. You got flat out got outcoached and out prepped and you cant handle that some coaches are straight up better.

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

Kiffen is basically FOS about everything. I'm not sure why he gets so much attention. He's a horrible person and he's an erratic head coach. He's probably better as an OC where someone can rein him in and he doesn't have all the power. 

[aubiefifty 17,487]

39 minutes ago, AUFightingSoldiers said:

So corral is LIMPING pregame and you start him? Then he is carted to the locker room after getting hit and carried off the field so the very next drive he comes back in and you run 2 QB draws on that drive? 1 of 3 things is happening:

1. You're making BS excuses and using an injury from 3 weeks ago to save face

2. You care nothing about the long term career of your players.

Or 3. You got flat out got outcoached and out prepped and you cant handle that some coaches are straight up better.

lets not forget that book his assistant carries for fourth downs. he has one for each team. it might be valuable but i thought it was just some bull of some kind.

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,841]

I will say, it’d be scary if he got a real increase in talent there. Ripped us apart to be down to walk ons, a pretty middling OLine, and a QB with a bum ankle and a supposedly not 100% shoulder. Not to even speak about the defense. 
 

Just made the game harder than it had to be for himself. 

[God Cam It 97]

He had some moments last night where he looked completely lost on what to do (like the old, confused Gus looks). 

[BJCrawford 1,568]

Corral did not make that 20 yard run into the end zone like he had two bum ankles.  He was going full speed. Just sayin ……

[boisnumber1 2,844]

5 hours ago, CCTAU said:

Kiffin is good for ole mrs. It’s go big or go home if you want to win there. 
Some of you act like he should be coaching as if he had a chance. 

Well, this season he does. Their 2 losses are largely because of his gametime decisions. Your comment makes no sense at all.

[boisnumber1 2,844]

I don't give their defense much credit in the second half. We didn't execute consistently at all. Fumbles, missing passes and opportunities...we had more yards in the 2nd half if I'm not mistaken. Our lack of scoring was mostly on us. Their lack of scoring was mostly on him.

Edited October 31, 2021 by boisnumber1

[auburnphan 6,050]

I don't have any problem with anything that Lane said.  I felt that the main thing that really stopped either offense the most was unforced execution failure.  Corral missed a bunch of wide open guys.  Both defenses did make some big plays without a doubt, with our D making many more disruptive plays.

[AUFlyer99 647]

Last night gives me heartburn.  For an offense down to walk on receivers and a wounded QB they were too effective.  
 

I’ve seen a lot of skepticism on whether Corrall was/is actually hurt or not and all I can say is cortisone/Novocain is a hell of a drug.  

[Hank2020 3,232]

2 hours ago, AUFlyer99 said:

Last night gives me heartburn.  For an offense down to walk on receivers and a wounded QB they were too effective.  
 

I’ve seen a lot of skepticism on whether Corrall was/is actually hurt or not and all I can say is cortisone/Novocain is a hell of a drug.  

I think he was definitely limited.

[CCTAU 3,366]

5 hours ago, boisnumber1 said:

Well, this season he does. Their 2 losses are largely because of his gametime decisions. Your comment makes no sense at all.

So you are saying without the interception and the miss on 4th down, they had a chance?

If we are candying butts, let’s get rid of AU’s fumbles. Does he still stand a chance? 
 

Kiffin knows he has to take big chances. His team is not really that deep. 

[AUFlyer99 647]

51 minutes ago, CCTAU said:

So you are saying without the interception and the miss on 4th down, they had a chance?

If we are candying butts, let’s get rid of AU’s fumbles. Does he still stand a chance? 
 

Kiffin knows he has to take big chances. His team is not really that deep. 

I firmly believe depth is why that team didn’t run through JHS last night like it was a train through a Volkswagen.    With a healthy team they hang fifty on the board.  Without the drops and fumbles we hang forty something.  Nothing against our boys and coaching staff.  They played well and wouldn’t have run from the challenge.  The staff had the team well prepped but the Ole Miss offense at the beginning of the year was nitroglycerin with cleats.  

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

On 10/31/2021 at 3:34 PM, BJCrawford said:

Corral did not make that 20 yard run into the end zone like he had two bum ankles.  He was going full speed. Just sayin ……

Exactly.  I think Lame just uses injury stunts as part of his game plan. 

[Hank2020 3,232]

9 minutes ago, Tigerbelle said:

Exactly.  I think Lame just uses injury stunts as part of his game plan. 

I actually thought he looked limited on that run. Especially when he cut a little.

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

5 minutes ago, Hank2020 said:

I actually thought he looked limited on that run. Especially when he cut a little.

I've had sprained ankles....one bad sprain that still bothers me even though I was 13 when it happened, and one not so bad that still took a month to completely resolve. I just do not believe he was playing the way he was if his ankles are messed up. Maybe one...but not both. And if both of his ankles are in bad shape he has no business playing right now anyway. 

[Hank2020 3,232]

3 minutes ago, Tigerbelle said:

I've had sprained ankles....one bad sprain that still bothers me even though I was 13 when it happened, and one not so bad that still took a month to completely resolve. I just do not believe he was playing the way he was if his ankles are messed up. Maybe one...but not both. And if both of his ankles are in bad shape he has no business playing right now anyway. 

Those shots are powerful and the taping definitely gives much support. Adrenaline helps also, but y’all that believe he wasn’t may be correct. I just don’t see it being an advantage for them to fake it or even just to over emphasize it to gain advantage. I actually believe they may have been better to leave the other guy in. He was playing OK.

[AUFightingSoldiers 686]

8 hours ago, Hank2020 said:

Those shots are powerful and the taping definitely gives much support. Adrenaline helps also, but y’all that believe he wasn’t may be correct. I just don’t see it being an advantage for them to fake it or even just to over emphasize it to gain advantage. I actually believe they may have been better to leave the other guy in. He was playing OK.

I 100% believe he tweaked something on the play he came out and him being carted to the locker room for examination and a cortisone shot was probably more precaution than anything. My 2 major gripes are that Kiffin said he was literally limping leading up to the game and Kiffin has been using Corral's ankle as an excuse for 3 weeks. If he has had severe ligament damage it needs to be rested and treated. Masking the pain with some cortisone and ignoring structural damage is the worst thing for a bum ankle. 

Whoever said it earlier is right though. Those shots are something else and a good tape job can hold that thing in place pretty well lol

[Hank2020 3,232]

23 minutes ago, AUFightingSoldiers said:

I 100% believe he tweaked something on the play he came out and him being carted to the locker room for examination and a cortisone shot was probably more precaution than anything. My 2 major gripes are that Kiffin said he was literally limping leading up to the game and Kiffin has been using Corral's ankle as an excuse for 3 weeks. If he has had severe ligament damage it needs to be rested and treated. Masking the pain with some cortisone and ignoring structural damage is the worst thing for a bum ankle. 

Whoever said it earlier is right though. Those shots are something else and a good tape job can hold that thing in place pretty well lol

It would surprise me greatly if any major college football program left it up to either the players or any coach to decide if a player can play or not. That would be the decision the medical staff.

[I_M4_AU 8,323]

10 hours ago, Hank2020 said:

I actually thought he looked limited on that run. Especially when he cut a little.

The thing about that TD run is he really didn’t have to cut much, just ran straight.  You could see on other runs he had, when it came time to juke he just slid.  I agree, he was limited.

[AUFightingSoldiers 686]

36 minutes ago, Hank2020 said:

It would surprise me greatly if any major college football program left it up to either the players or any coach to decide if a player can play or not. That would be the decision the medical staff.

Didnt we play Sean White with a dead shoulder because he said he could go? 😂😂

Edit: wrong emoji... 😔😔*

Edited November 2, 2021 by AUFightingSoldiers