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Lane Kiffin addresses Ole Miss defensive performance vs. Alabama

275133747_4796292347117549_592518599057046758_nby:Jonathan Wagner•10/04/21•

Jonathan Wagner

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Kevin C. Cox via Getty Images.

Alabama running back Brian Robinson had a monster day on the ground against Ole Miss on Saturday. Robinson rushed for 171 yards and four touchdowns on 36 carries, with 4.8 yards per carry, leading Alabama to a 42-21 victory. After the game, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin praised Robinson and Alabama’s offensive line.

Kiffin: Ole Miss made Robinson work for his rushing yards

Despite Robinson rushing for nearly 200 yards, Kiffin thought that Ole Miss did a good job at forcing him to work hard for every yard that he gained. Kiffin acknowledged that Robinson’s 4.8 yards per carry coud have been a lot worse.

“Well, Brian is a good player. Remember him playing right here in high school in Tuscaloosa when I was there,” Kiffin said of Robinson. “They ran him a lot to their left side, I mean I guess the left tackle might be the first pick of the draft. He’s huge, and they ran behind him a lot. The guy is a dominant player and Brian did a really good job. Still in there at the end, we actually finally stopped him there in the fourth quarter twice.”

Kiffin did not want to hear about Ole Miss needing to make defensive scheme changes after the loss. Instead, Kiffin praised his defense and said that the true storyline of the game was actually Alabama’s defense.

“Yeah, I mean this is going to probably sound crazy, but you were there a year ago, you know they moved the ball a lot better a year ago,” Kiffin said on what Ole Miss needs to do to stop the run. “A lot faster than this year, just took them longer this year. So, we actually made them work to get the rushing yards, even though it ended up being a lot. But Brian’s 4.8 [yards] a carry, that could have easily been a lot higher. I don’t think it’s a game where you say all of a sudden, we don’t need to change what we’re doing on defense. That’s not really the storyline in the game. The storyline in the game is they did a great job on defense. Great players and made great adjustments with the coaches.”

Alabama quarterback Bryce Young was 20 of 26 for 241 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception in the game. Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral was 21 of 29 for 213 yards and two total touchdowns.

After Week 5, Alabama remains at the top of the AP Poll. Kiffin and Ole Miss, meanwhile, fell down to No. 17.