‘Really exciting win’: A happy Lane Kiffin breaks down 22-19 Ole Miss win over Kentucky
Twice in the fourth quarter on Saturday No. 7 Kentucky was driving deep into Ole Miss territory with a chance to either tie the score or go ahead with a touchdown.
And twice the Rebel defense turned the Wildcats away. Actually, they turned them over.
Which is exactly what third-year head coach Lane Kiffin was looking for.
“We put it on the (defensive) line that last drive,” Kiffin said. “‘Hey, you’ve got to go take this thing over ‘cause they’ll finally be throwing the ball. Go win it for us.’
“That was good to see.”
Ole Miss, which entered the day ranked No. 14 in the country, sealed the win, and moved to 5-0 (1-0 SEC) on the 2022 season, with a Jared Ivey forced fumble on Kentucky quarterback Will Levis.
Levis, an early first-round projection for the 2023 NFL Draft, was solid in a showdown of undefeated Top 15 teams. He finished 18 for 224 for 220 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.
The Rebels, defensively, were just that much better.
Jared Ivey, a transfer defensive end from Georgia Tech, beat his man off the line of scrimmage and got to Levis just before he was to release a pass and knocked the ball free. Veteran Ole Miss EDGE Tavius Robinson was quick to the ball and recovered.
Quarterback Jaxson Dart and the Rebel offense went into victory formation minutes later.
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Ole Miss has now won 13 straight home games.
The Rebels snapped an eight-game winning streak for Kentucky (4-1, 0-1). They’ve also now held eight of their last nine opponents to 21 points or fewer.
“Really exciting win, obviously,” Kiffin said. “In some ways, similar to the last time we played those guys, coming down, basically, to the last play. Our guys showed up.
“We said all week Kentucky’s a really good team. They play really hard. They play physical, they play hard (and) we’re going to have to play harder. You’re going to have to counter them because (Kentucky head) coach (Mark) Stoops has done that for years. Does a great job. They were physical today.
“In the end, our guys showed up. We’ve got a lot of work to do, things to clean up. Crowd was awesome today. Who knows? Did they false-start at the end because of the crowd and help us win the game? Very well could have. That was awesome to see.”
Here’s everything Kiffin had to say in his postgame press conference, in a video provided by Ole Miss Sports Production.
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