Lane Kiffin gives Friday update on Ole Miss quarterback competition

Lane Kiffin has yet to name his starting quarterback for the Ole Miss Rebels season opener against the Troy Trojans. Recently, media members have been asking a volley of questions trying to squeeze the slightest amount of information on which way the Rebels’ head coach is leaning. And during the team’s press conference on Friday, they followed that trend. They got Kiffin to give a brief update on his current quarterback situation.

“I think both guys have played better. I feel really good, which is the first time I probably said that about both guys; you know where they’re at and how well they’re doing. So we’re in a really good situation,” said Kiffin.

But does the Ole Miss headman anticipate naming a starter for next week? Well, According to him, he refers to ‘ live in the moment,’ but it’s a possibility.

“You guys know I don’t anticipate a lot. I live in the moment, in the day. So, I don’t anticipate that, but I wouldn’t say that wouldn’t happen. I don’t worry about that. Like we tell players, that’s the outcome, processes, having a good fast Friday, and tomorrow we’ll be scrimmaging well and getting them to play well.”

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Kiffin has given little indication of which quarterback he prefers as teams head into their final weekend of practice before the start of the college football season. He is down to two options in transfer quarterback from USC, Jaxson Dart, and sophomore Luke Altmyer. The quarterbacks haven’t done much to convince Kiffin that they are head and shoulders above the other for the starting position. Still, having said that, the Rebels will likely have a solution to this problem before they take on the Trojans at home on Sept. 3 when they exchange depth charts leading up to the game.

Kiffin addresses topic of co-starters at quarterback to start the season

Kiffin hopes to name a starting quarterback by the season opener, but is still weighing his options with less than two weeks to go until kickoff. Asked on Monday about the possibility of naming Jaxson Dart and Luke Altmyer as “co-starters”, Kiffin made clear that is not his plan right now, but didn’t rule it out.

“Not yet,” he said. “We’ve still got a ways to go and we’ll cross that bridge if it happens.”

Dart and Altmyer have been in a battle all offseason that Kiffin described Monday as “very close.” The coach said though some might be eager for a starter to be named named, he chooses to view the ongoing competition as a positive thing for the team.