Lane Kiffin is 'Highly Concerned' About Rebels' Early-Season Run Game Difficulties
OXFORD, Miss. -- Lane Kiffin doesn't give much "coach-speak," and he gave an honest answer about his team's offensive struggles last weekend against the Tulane Green Wave.
Although the Ole Miss Rebels emerged with a 37-20 win over the then-ranked Green Wave, Kiffin's team did not eclipse 100 yards on the ground, something that has become an expectation in Oxford, especially with All-American running back Quinshon Judkins in the backfield.
By the end of the game, Judkins had accounted for 48 yards on the ground, and Ole Miss went 1-for-13 on third downs. The team as a whole rushed for just 89 yards.
"Yeah, I'm highly concerned," Kiffin said of the run game in Monday's media availability. "That's very unusual for us. I don't remember the inability to run the ball at all. They did a great job, but obviously, it has a lot to do with us, and that's everybody. It takes everybody to have a really good running game. We definitely look to improve there, and that's a major issue and one that I don't think anyone would have guessed.
"I was very concerned in-game about our inability on third down to convert and our inability to run the ball. Very unusual in our four years of being here. They played really hard, and we did not adjust very well and match their intensity, in my opinion, up front."
Despite trailing at halftime, Ole Miss did close on a 30-3 run that sealed the game in the second half, so the story wasn't all bad for the Rebels.
"Really proud about how the game ended," Kiffin said. "That's a top-25 opponent. We all have injuries, and they played without their quarterback, but they still have a lot of really good players. To end the game on a 30-3 run says a lot about our players.
"We started slow, obviously. Maybe our players took them for granted. I do worry sometimes when you go out to warmups and see the star quarterback's not playing, you have a letdown because you think things are going to be easy. Maybe some of that happened, but very proud of how they finished."
Preseason All-American Quinshon Judkins tallied only 48 rushing yards on Saturday against Tulane, and Ole Miss as a whole put up 89 yards on the ground.
It's also worth noting that wide receiver Tre Harris departed in the first half of Saturday's game with an injury. Kiffin isn't sure why, but he did notice a change on offense after that development.
"When Tre went out, something changed," Kiffin said. "I wouldn't have thought that whole offensive drop-off, but for whatever reason. All of a sudden, we can't move the ball. [Dayton] Wade did a good job stepping up. Now, we need other guys to do that too."
Rebels quarterback Jaxson Dart commented after Saturday's game that, despite some of the struggles, he wasn't sure if last year's Ole Miss team would have fought out a win like it did against Tulane, something that Kiffin echoed on Monday.
"I said that in the locker room," Kiffin said. "I don't have analytics to prove that, but I did feel the difference that that may not have happened a year ago. I thought it was cool that they did play as a team and come together in the second half. I certainly don't know that that would have happened a year ago."
Now, the Rebels turn the page to a home date with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Ole Miss is currently favored by around 20 points after dominating Tech in Atlanta a season ago to the tune of a 42-0 final score, but Kiffin is expecting a different effort from the Yellow Jackets this season.
"I think the quarterback's playing well, and they run a good offense that presents some challenges," Kiffin said. "They look better on defense. They look like they're playing better than a year ago."
The coach also bragged on the Ole Miss fans showing up in New Orleans when his team faced Tulane, and he also hinted that the same should be the case for home games in Oxford.
"I thought our crowd was phenomenal there, to show up for a road game and stay," Kiffin said. "Late in the fourth quarter, it looked like whole stands were Ole Miss. That was cool to see. I know The Grove is awesome, but it would be nice if our fans would stay like that to the end of our home games too.
"We've got to go win the game [against Georgia Tech]. We have a lot of stuff to work on and a lot of challenges. I hope we have a really cool environment and the fans come out. I really commend the student section at our last home game. I think they said that's the highest number of students we've had at a game, including the Alabama game a year ago. Hopefully the rest of our fans can show up too."
Ole Miss and Georgia Tech are scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. CT kickoff on SEC Network on Saturday.
