Lane Kiffin calls out ‘miserable’ offense, praises defense

Troy hung around on the No. 22-ranked Ole Miss Rebels for a bit longer than they’d have wanted last Saturday. Still, Lane Kiffin’s squad escaped with a 28-10 victory over the Trojans, and has his team’s defensive efforts to thank while the offense continued to work out its kinks.

“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 down here. It’s cool to get to 1-0, but we need to improve a lot.

“We’ll turn it into a positive … because sometimes when you play great in the first game then they don’t listen to you and think we’ve got everything figured out. As much as it’s painful to watch, it’s good sometimes. We’ve got their attention that we need to improve and we need to play better.”

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The rushing attack is what kept the offense afloat, as quarterback Jaxson Dart finished with just 154 yards through the air. He contributed 40 of the Rebels’ 266 rushing yards, though the majority of production went to Zach Evans and Quinshon Judkins.

Meanwhile on defense, the pass rushing units compiled four sacks, two passes defended and one interception. Both Tysheem Johnson (12) and Troy Brown (11) ended the game with double-digit tackles, leading the way for 79 total from the defensive unit on the afternoon.

“They played really well, especially with so many new parts. We played conservative once we got up, which was the right thing to do, and our D-line came through with some rushes,” Kiffin said about his defensive unit. “We kept the ball in front of us. Really there were not many big plays period in the passing game on either side.

“That was kind of the key once we got up was as long as we don’t give up the big play, we’re going to be alright. We’re playing to win the game. So we’re running the clock out on punt team and playing it safe on defense to play the game when we’re up by three scores.”

While Kiffin’s offense is still a work in progress, especially when Luke Altymer is starting under center this week against Central Arkansas following Dart’s Week 1 nod. Kiffin will be putting all of his stock into his defense to secure Saturday’s victory while he finalizes his offensive depth chart before playing a tough Georgia Tech team in Week 3.