Kiffin: “Something on film” led to Ole Miss perfectly executing game-turning onside kick

Ole Miss used a surprise onside kick midway through the second half against Auburn Saturday to flip a four-point nail-biter into a comfortable double-digit cushion.

Well, a surprise to everyone but the Ole Miss coaches and players on the sideline.

The Rebels practiced all week to perfect what ultimately proved to be the game-turning and decisive play of a 48-34 win. No. 9 Ole Miss (7-0, 3-0 SEC) now sits alone atop the SEC West following No. 3 Alabama’s 52-49 loss to No. 6 Tennessee.

“Huge play for the players to make the play,” Lane Kiffin said afterwards.

The Rebels have won 21 of their last 25 games with him as head coach.

“Something on film.”

LISTEN: Things got weird for Ole Miss against Auburn, as they always do, but the Rebels stayed perfect.

Kiffin didn’t elaborate on what the Ole Miss coaches saw on film. 

He would only allow first-year special teams coordinator Marty Biagi was the coach who scouted and discovered the area to exploit in Auburn’s kickoff return unit. The Rebels beat Auburn for the first time in seven years and just the third time in Oxford in school history.

The plan all along was to pull it out only if Ole Miss was struggling, as the Rebels were, holding a 28-24 lead with 13:34 remaining in the third quarter. Auburn (3-4, 1-3 SEC) had rallied all the way back from a 21-0 deficit by scoring points on four of five drives.

After stalling out in the red zone, Ole Miss turned to Jonathan Cruz for one of his two successful field goals. The Rebels then lined up normally for the ensuing kickoff. Kiffin, in doing his best to play off the try to come, looked innocuously to the scoreboard and pretended to talk to his defense. 

He was afraid if he looked too intent he’d tip Auburn off.

“Obviously impacted the game a lot,” Kiffin said. “They don’t work all the time if the players don’t make the plays.”

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Ole Miss turned the stolen possession into a touchdown and 10-point lead. 

The Rebels continued to answer Auburn pressure, even after a lightning delay halted play with just under seven minutes remaining in regulation. 

Kiffin said the team used the unexpected break as an opportunity to line up a four-minute offense that had been spotty at best — and a persistent headache at worst — for the Rebels throughout his two-plus seasons in Oxford.

“Was very pleased that we finished on offense and defense,” Kiffin said. “Stopped them there, got the pick to shut down the series and didn’t give them the ball back again by making the two first downs to end the game.

“We talked about that during the delay — that that very likely could happen. We obviously have to stop them on defense and we’ll probably need, eventually, two first downs to end it. That was good. We have not been great at that, really, in our two-and-a-half years here. That was really good to see.”

Ole Miss got the stop defensively and got two first downs to seal the win. 

The Rebels last won each of their first seven games in 2014. They’ve only done it twice in all since the 60s.

The onside kick recovery was their first in two years (Florida, 2020).

The teams combined for 749 rushing yards. Ole Miss had 448, its fifth-most ever and second-most against an SEC opponent. The Rebels saw three rushers (Quinshon Judkins, Zach Evans and Jaxson Dart) clear the 100-yard rushing mark.

The last time that happened was at least 1976.

“We have issues on our team,” Kiffin said. “We’re 7-0, which is great, but we’ve got to fix these things, ‘cause it’s going to get harder.”

Ole Miss will next travel to LSU for a 2:30 p.m. CT kickoff on CBS. Here’s everything else Kiffin had to say in his postgame press conference.