Lane Kiffin Commends Stoops for "Out of Character" Fourth Down Deep Ball

Lane Kiffin tells it how it is. Those frank comments hit a little bit differently after a shocking win over Ole Miss.

Two weeks ago, the college football world was stunned when Mark Stoops decided to punt the ball to Georgia while trailing by one with three minutes left in the game. Everyone, even Kiffin, was shocked when Stoops decided to go for in on 4th and 8 from his own 20-yard line. The gamble worked as Barion Brown sprinted 63 yards down the field to set up the go-ahead touchdown.

“We end up getting them to 4th down and they throw a go route. I have to credit Stoops, that’s not anything he’s probably ever done in his life,” Kiffin said in his postgame presser.

“He got out of his character with three and a half minutes left. I commend him for doing that. I’m sure the ESPN percentage had us 98% winning at that point. Good throw and good play by them.”

Did the Georgia decision affect today’s at all? Stoops admitted after the game that he knew they were going to need to steal a possession to come away with a win.

“I understand the position I was in a couple weeks ago. I clearly do. But I also was going to have great field position there, pin them, and we had been playing so well (in the red zone). I also know what this offense is capable of. Analytics will tell you on 4th-and-6 or less to go for it. We were on 4th-and-8, but I felt good about the matchup,” said Stoops.

Brown had not caught a pass for more than 20 yards all season. They kept their confidence in the explosive playmaker, and just like the last trip to Oxford, he delivered late in the fourth quarter.

“It’s very unusual the whole situation if you study people and analytics and how people coach. I told him after the game, great job. I think it’s certainly a reaction to all the criticism he got from the Georgia game when he punted. So he went out of character, threw a go-ball. Guy made a great throw, a great catch, and so I commend them,” said Kiffin.

Kiffin Knew Deone Walker would be a Difference-Maker

Lane Kiffin was complimentary of the Kentucky defense leading into this game. It wasn’t just lip service. It was reflected in his game plan. The Ole Miss offense did whatever they could to avoid the middle of the Kentucky defense. They only ran the ball a dozen times in the first half, and many of those were Jaxson Dart scrambles.

The Kentucky defensive line was creating havoc early and often. Even when Deone Walker wasn’t making tackles for loss, he was applying pressure and opening up opportunities for his teammates to make plays.

“That guy (Walker) is a phenomenal, elite player,” said the Ole Miss head coach. “They got big, long defensive players and they added the Georgia Mike (linebacker, Jamon Dumas-Johnson) that’s made a total difference for them from a mentality standpoint. These guys hadn’t given up 300 yards the whole year. Georgia at times couldn’t do anything against them. They’re going to give people problems. We certainly didn’t help ourselves.”

The Wildcats had seven tackles for loss, four sacks, and two pass break-ups. Octavious Oxendine led the way with a pair of sacks.

“I feel like it’s something that coach [Brad] White always preaches every week,” Oxendine said. “He always says ‘win it at the line of scrimmage’ and he always tells the defensive line we’ve got to win that battle in the trenches. So, I feel like every week we go play, you can tell we’re going to put our heart on the field as a D-line and go battle in the trenches.”

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