Lane Kiffin on how to offset pressure on Jaxson Dart: 'It'll be a chess game'

Ole Miss and Penn State are trading blows in a back-and-forth game early on in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl.

Penn State has given the Rebels problems on both sides of the ball in the first half. Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin joined ESPN during the second quarter and discussed what stands out about this Penn State team.

“They tackle extremely well. They play physical, and we’re having problems with their rushing,” Kiffin said. “I’m glad our guys took the opportunity on fourth-and-1 to make the Philly Special, keep it alive and go down and score. You can’t do anything about that last play, that’s just horrible luck.”

Kiffin was referring to two plays on both sides of the ball that led to the first touchdowns of the game being scored.

Ole Miss used a Philly Special play that had Jaxson Dart catching a pass on fourth down to set up its first scoring drive, while Penn State responded with a long pass play from Drew Allar to Tyler Warren as Allar was scrambling to set up its first touchdown.

Defensively, Penn State had a pair of tackles for loss early on and was able to get pressure on Dart. Kiffin spoke about how the Rebels can try to offset some of that moving forward.

“We’ve gotta throw quick. We’ve gotta run the ball some, too, because we’re becoming one-dimensional,” Kiffin said. “But obviously we’re winning outside with the 1-on-1s so it’ll be a chess game.”

Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin says ‘Roll Tide’ when asked to pick Rose Bowl winner

Ahead of the Peach Bowl matchup, Lane Kiffin joined ESPN’s College GameDay to discuss the Ole Miss-Penn State game. He also got to discuss a little bit more than he bargained for.

Just before Kiffin was set to sign off, ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit asked Kiffin what he thought was going to happen in the Rose Bowl and who he thought would win between Alabama and Michigan.

“Well I wasn’t ready for that question,” Kiffin said. “I mean those are two great teams, two great coaches, but I mean, c’mon Herbstreit. That’s a setup.”

Then, as if ignoring his own warning about the setup, Kiffin dropped one more telling line.

“Roll Tide!” Kiffin said.

The Ole Miss coach, of course, spent three years coaching at Alabama under Nick Saban, really revitalizing his career there. He credits Saban with helping him grow as a coach, eventually getting another opportunity to be a head coach.