Lane Kiffin on message to Ole Miss players after Washington State: 'I hope they don't feel good about it'

Ole Miss was able to survive an upset attempt over the weekend against Washington State. Even walking away with the win, head coach Lane Kiffin wasn’t happy with how his team performed in front of a home crowd in Oxford.

After the game, Kiffin emphasized those frustrations. He explained that the message to his team walking away from the game was simple. He hopes they feel badly about how the game went.

“Just really disappointing,” Lane Kiffin said. “I hope they don’t feel good about it. We didn’t sing a song or any of that stuff. So, I just wanted to make sure they understand this is not the standard that we play with here.”

Ultimately, Ole Miss would win 24-21. However, it was Washington State who struck first and it would, ultimately, be a back-and-forth game throughout much of the afternoon. The Cougars even scored late to keep scaring Ole Miss. A lost fumble and eight penalties for 99 yards also hurt Kiffin’s team throughout the day.

In particular, Kiffin wanted to emphasize that this isn’t the standard of play he has for his team. That’s something that can be lost at times in the transient nature of modern roster construction. So, this near upset is a good chance for him to lay that on as a teaching point to his team.

“You know, a lot of guys from different places maybe not used to what our standard is,” Kiffin said. “And, that’s not what we’re supposed to do. We get paid a lot. They get paid a lot. And a lot of people come to our games. And that ain’t the product we’re supposed to put out.”

The Washington State game fit the bill as a trap game. Next week, Ole Miss will need to play more consistently for all 60 minutes because they’re heading to Athens to take on Georgia.

Lane Kiffin calls out Ole Miss student section while criticizing red zone offense

Lane Kiffin’s frustrations on Saturday even extended to the Ole Miss student section. In a close game, that section cleared out early. The result was an easier road environment for Washington State.

So, while talking about his own team’s ed zone issues, he also took a shot at the students. Kiffin said, “I thought our red zone offense showed up about like our student section.”

The red zone was certainly an issue for Ole Miss, going just two for three on trips there. So, that’s another challenge for the team to work on correcting this week. Fans, meanwhile, have until November 1st before they have another home game to fill the student section.