From the Locker Room: Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin and linebacker Mark Robinson

Ole Miss moved to 5-1 (2-1 SEC) on the season with a 31-26 win at Tennessee (4-3, 2-2) on Saturday. Lane Kiffin and Mark Robinson met the media following the game. Here’s some of what they had to say …

OLE MISS HEAD COACH LANE KIFFIN

Opening statement: “Awesome to win a game in that environment. Told the guys all week this place is going to be electric as soon as we heard it was going to be a sellout, 102,000. I remember what it was like when we were here and the energy. Knew we were going to have to weather a storm early of energy and emotion. Lot of stuff went wrong in the first quarter. Luckily we played good defense to keep us hanging around. Our defense really won the game twice. It was awesome to see. We needed that. If we would have won like last week, another high-scoring game, we’re sitting here with that same feeling about here we go again on defense. That was a really hot offense. We played really good on defense.”

On the conversations during the 20-plus-minute on-field delay: “I just wanted to play. The players got helmets; it’s the coaches that are going to get hit. I’ve still got my souvenir golf ball that I got hit with. I just wanted to put the helmets on and let’s play. The Tennessee people down on the field were taking care of us. We’re worried more about the players than anything else, even the Tennessee people. That was really cool to see that part of it.”

On the defense: “This is a lot better feeling defensively than a week ago. A week ago, we made the one two-point play stop. This time, we stopped them a number of times, including a fourth-down stop. We just make it dramatic. I think it was fourth-and-24 and they made fourth-and-23 and three quarters. That’s the story of our life. It don’t go real easy.”

On the biggest difference defensively: “I think Jake Springer makes a difference. I think that’s pretty obvious. The last time that guy played significantly was the opener. We didn’t give up many big plays. We controlled the clock, which we don’t even try to do. We ran over 100 plays without penalties. That helps the defense sitting there.”

On injuries before and during the game: “We were heavily injured coming into the game, especially offensively. I really do not remember something like this except for sanctions at USC, the lack of depth on offense at skill positions that we had today. You saw guys playing a lot of snaps and wearing down and not necessarily household names that you’re used to. It was a high-play-count game and there were a lot of injuries on both sides. The fans boo when it’s us, but they had a lot of injuries, too. Just a high-play-count game.”

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On returning to Tennessee for the first time as a head coach: “The emotions are different because the two Alabama games were blowouts. When you go to the end like that and the fans’ energy and going back and forth and the delay and all that, I’m sure, human nature, as the head coach, it feels a little bit different. I didn’t say a thing about it all week. This team’s not about me. Still not about me. But I did thank our players for coming through, because it does feel better walking off the field winning and getting told all those things vs. losing.”

OLE MISS LINEBACKER MARK ROBINSON

On getting game-winning stops in back-to-back weeks: “It just gives us all the confidence in the world. Believing in the work we’re putting in. Believing in our standards. Believing in our work ethic and just keep practicing to get better every day. Nobody really gave our defense a chance, and we knew that. We had to depend on each other. We’re all we got, we’re all we need. That’s how we play ball.”

On building on the two-point conversion stop against Arkansas: “Experience is the best teacher sometimes. Focus. Knowing how it was last week. That feeling of knowing they (Arkansas) were going for two when they really could have kicked the field goal. How if that game had turned out different we would have all been sick. That was a good experience for this week to understand how big the moment was for us to seal the deal.”