Lane Kiffin highlights first-half mistakes, missed touchdown chance against LSU

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin spoke on the field after the first half about how mistakes by the Rebels kept the game close against LSU. The Rebels jumped out quickly to a 17-3 lead over the Tigers, but entered the locker rooms with just a slim 20-17 lead at the half.

Lane Kiffin on mistakes against LSU

As the players left the field after the second quarter, Kiffin was asked in an on-field interview about the adjustments he had seen from both LSU and his own team after a hot start slowed down.

“Well I think we moved the ball well early,” started Kiffin. “We struggled on defense but ‘bend, don’t break.’ We gotta do a better job of finishing drives there, and you know we had the 75-yard touchdown [Jaxson Dart] overthrows with the wind. And then we shoot ourselves with the offensive pass interference on a one-yard screen play. We just gotta do little things better. We’re gonna have to contain the quarterback because these guys have great players as we know.”

Kiffin’s explanation of the first half was a concise one, simply saying that two-straight touchdown drives for 75-yards to open the game was because they “moved the ball well.” His breakdown of the defense matched what was on the field as well, with the Rebels defense giving up 110 yards to the Tigers on their first two drives of the game — but only conceding three points with some help from a missed field goal.

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The pass that Kiffin highlighted as a huge missed opportunity was one from Dart where he had a wide-open slot receiver streaking past the defense after a blown coverage by the LSU safety. Despite getting off a great-looking throw, the ball sailed about five yards past his receiver and the play resulted in an incompletion instead of a seemingly guaranteed touchdown.