Veteran cornerback Miles Battle had a career day in a rare start for the Ole Miss defense

Ole Miss cornerback Miles Battle echoed his head coach, Lane Kiffin, following the Rebels’ 30-24 loss to Alabama on Saturday.

Kiffin was asked in his postgame press conference about a number of positives in a losing effort, among them a record-setting performance from breakout freshman running back Quinshon Judkins. 

Judkins scored twice to set the single-season Ole Miss record for rushing touchdowns (15) in a season. He finished with 135 rushing yards on 25 carries and now owns the freshman Ole Miss record for single-season rushing yards (1,171). 

He’s just 141 yards short of setting the Ole Miss single-season record for rushing yards, regardless of classification.

“I don’t really give a shit about how many yards we had, how close the game was. We didn’t win the game,” Kiffin said. “Two years ago I walked off this field and I said we didn’t come here to cover spreads. We didn’t come here to play what, at the time, was the No. 1 team in the country, close. So, all these things about, ‘Well, he did this, and freshman running back did this,’ we didn’t win the game.

“Maybe at some other places that’s good or it’s been good here in the past, but it isn’t good enough. We came here to win, beat Alabama. We didn’t do it. So, we’re 0-1 today.”

Battle backed Kiffin’s assessment.

“That’s definitely the mindset,” Battle said. “We didn’t come in here just wanting to play a close game with ‘Bama. We came in here to beat ‘Bama. We want to beat everybody we play. A close game like that, we want to be on top. No moral victories just for being close with a team like that.

“Since Lane Kiffin got here, that’s definitely been the mentality. Pro mindset. We’re trying to go out and win every game, no matter what it is (or) who we play. No matter what time, weather, we’re going out there to win.”

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Battle had a game to remember, even if the final outcome wasn’t in the Rebels’ favor.

He earned a rare start after a strong week of practice and finished third on the team with a career-best nine total tackles, including six solos. He also broke up a pass.

But all he could focus on afterwards was what Ole Miss didn’t do to secure a win and keep pace with LSU in the SEC West chase. Instead, the Tigers clinched the division with their win over Arkansas and the Ole Miss loss, and they’ll play Georgia in the SEC title game December 3.

“It hurts,” he said. “Coming down to the wire like that to beat Alabama, a great university, it hurts, but we’ve got to move on to the next one.

“(The defense) came out doing our thing early. At the back end of it, we had some mistakes here in the middle, but overall, I thought we played a good game. We put our offense in a position to win.”

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Ole Miss held Alabama to 13 scoreless yards on nine plays through nearly the first full quarter of play. 

Even more, the Rebels were up 10-1 in first downs at the 13-minute mark of the second quarter, and they’d also outgained the Crimson Tide, 186-22, in yards. 

Alabama rallied back, however, with Ole Miss unable to maintain a 17-7 lead. The Rebels saw their lead evaporate in the final two quarters, as quarterback Bryce Young led the Crimson Tide on four second-half scoring drives.

To be fair, three of them ended in field goals, including a fourth-quarter Ole Miss goal-line stand.

“I thought our guys did a really good job,” Kiffin said. “They were one-dimensional. They had no ability to run the ball, and, at times, didn’t care to. I get it. They’ve got Bryce, and he makes you end up throwing the ball a lot. I thought our defense did a really good job early and late. In the middle, not as great, but plenty good enough to win when you play that team, especially at home. 

“We’ve got to score more points.”

PHOTOS: Big-time football was played between Ole Miss and Alabama on Saturday

Battle believes the defense could have done more.

Ole Miss recorded three sacks, meaning the Rebels have totaled at least two sacks in eight of 10 games. The 317 total yards allowed were the fewest against Alabama since 2012 (305).

Ole Miss (8-2, 4-2 SEC) returns to action at Arkansas (5-5, 2-4) Saturday at 6:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network.

“They did start moving the ball a little bit,” Battle said. “In the middle of the game, we got into a little rut, but we ended up shaking back there at the end to play good. But that kind of hurt us in the long run.

“At the end of the day, we’re a team. If one side of the ball is struggling, the other just has to step up even more. We tried to do our best to do that. We didn’t get the win in the end, but we’re going to come back next week and for sure get one.”