Lane Kiffin begging Ole Miss for more consistency after first half vs. Kentucky

Kentucky led Ole Miss 10-7 at the half after settling in defensively and making life extremely difficult for the nation’s top-ranked offense.

The Kentucky defensive line, in particular, has done a really nice job getting pressure on quarterback Jaxson Dart and keeping him from getting into a rhythm. Ole Miss had just 126 yards in the first half.

“They do a good job. They’re really good, like I said all week,” Rebels coach Lane Kiffin told ABC sideline reporter Molly McGrath at halftime. “These guys got really good players, and we’ve got to do a better job. We’ve taken some shots and we’ve missed them deep and so we’re going to have to make those and be more consistent.”

Ole Miss’ first drive was clinical. The Rebels marched 83 yards in six plays to score a touchdown and take a 7-0 lead. They gained just 43 yards after that.

Kentucky controlled the tempo, limiting Ole Miss to just five first-half possessions and 8:20 in time of possession.

Some of that, though, was due to self-inflicted mistakes by Kiffin’s squad on the opposite side of the ball. The Rebels had chances to end some Wildcats’ drives, only to see the yellow flag fly.

“Well part of that’s been ourselves. We’ve got three third-down defensive holding or pass interference on third or fourth down, three of them,” Kiffin said. “It kept their drives alive. So we’ve got to do much better job after the first drive on offense of being consistent. We’re in the type of game that we’ve been in with these guys before.”

Ole Miss was penalized eight times for 53 yards in the first half, while Kentucky drew just one holding call for 10 yards.

UK quarterback Brock Vandagriff was sharp in the first half, finishing 10-of-14 passing for 84 yards and a touchdown. He also ran nine times for 24 yards, picking up some key first downs with his legs. For UM, Dart was 7-of-11 for 97 yards at halftime. He also ran eight times for 24 yards.

Ole Miss has won the last three meetings in the series, with all three games occurring since 2017. Kentucky’s last win in the series came in 2011.