Lane Kiffin: Ole Miss offense “painful to watch” at times against Troy, but “we’ll turn it into a positive.”
More than anything else, the goal for Ole Miss in its season opener against Troy on Saturday was to win.
So, um, mission accomplished?
Not so fast, friends.
Third-year head coach Lane Kiffin wasn’t all too happy with the end results, specifically a lackluster (to put it nicely) second half. At one point, Ole Miss and Troy combined for six turnovers in eight straight second-half possessions.
Among the miscues was a Jaxson Dart interception in the red zone. Dart, as expected, drew the start at quarterback for Ole Miss over Luke Altmyer, but Kiffin said the now-months-long competition between the pair remains undecided.
“Offensively, the second half was miserable,” Kiffin said. “Three turnovers, including a snap on the ground. That’s really disappointing. Obviously we have a high standard of how we expect to play around here.
“The goal’s to get to 1-0, but we need to improve a lot.”
Actually, Dart and Altmyer will flip-flop roles a week from now.
Dart took all the game snaps for three-plus quarters against Troy, and the first-year Rebel transfer from USC finished 18 for 27 for 154 yards, one touchdown and the interception. He also rushed four times for 40 yards, with a long of 36.
Altmyer didn’t appear until around the 12-minute mark of the fourth quarter, but he’ll go first when Ole Miss hosts Central Arkansas. Altmyer was 1-2 for 13 yards.
“I thought he was doing really well until the last two series,” Kiffin said of Dart. “That is exactly what he knows has been his issue — not speeding things up and understanding the timing of our passing game and not getting away with those throws (including an interception).
“Those throws don’t work. Certainly they don’t work in this conference. He was doing a really good job until then.”
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RELATED: COLUMN: Predictable, expected and successful season-opening win over Troy for Ole Miss
Ole Miss certainly had its positives.
Namely, a new-look running back room, led by TCU transfer Zach Evans, feasted. Evans, alone, had 20 carries for 130 yards (46 long, 6.5 per-carry average), while Quinshon Judkins, a true freshman, went for 87 yards and a score on 14 carries.
Ulysses Bentley, a transfer from SMU, scored the team’s first touchdown of the year.
“Those guys looked really special, all three running backs,” Kiffin said. “(Judkins), I asked him if he was mad at the whole state of Alabama ‘cause he ran angry (Saturday). He’s a special freshman.”
As far as what comes next, Kiffin said Ole Miss will use Sunday to spin Troy into a positive. Because, again, the Rebels, are 1-0.
“Kind of a tale of two games,” Kiffin said. “I really liked the way we played defense in the first half and how we ran the ball. They were playing pretty safe on defense (and) we checked the ball down. We were efficient.
“The second half, we gave up too many yards on defense, but still kept the ball in front of us. Did a really good job of rushing the passer at the end. Played some really good defense with a lot of new guys in there.
“We’ll turn it into a positive over the next 24 hours. As much as it’s painful to watch, it’s good sometimes. We have their attention that we have to improve and we have to do better.”
