Lane Kiffin once tried to hire Georgia Tech’s Brent Key as an assistant at Ole Miss
Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key has a fan in Lane Kiffin.
Actually, the now-fourth-year Ole Miss head coach previously tried to lure Key to Ole Miss as an assistant. Key turned him down, and, instead, the two former Nick Saban assistants at Alabama face off Saturday.
The Rebels host the Yellowjackets at 6:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
“We hung out on a boat together in a pontoon boat,” Kiffin recalled of their one season together with the Crimson Tide. He was making his weekly appearance on the SEC teleconference call.
“Hung out together down at Lake Tuscaloosa. I joked that it’s not like South Florida boating and the ocean, but we had a good time.”
Kiffin did have a hand in getting Key hired, but as the replacement for Geoff Collins at Tech.
Ole Miss embarrassed the Yellowjackets, 42-0, in Atlanta last season. Not long after, Collins was fired and replaced by Key on an interim basis. Key proceeded to lead his alma mater to a 4-4 finish, and the interim tag was removed.
Georgia Tech took Louisivlle to the wire in its season opener and easily dispatched of South Carolina State. Ole Miss is perfect (2-0) through two weeks following wins over Mercer and Tulane.
The Rebels rallied from a 10-point deficit in New Orleans for their first double-digit comeback win over an AP Top 25 opponent in seven years. Ole Miss this week pushed into the Top 20 in polls.
“We have a lot of things to work on from last week that we didn’t do well, especially offensively,” Kiffin said. “We didn’t do everything we should have. Held back some. We didn’t perform nearly as well as our expectations on offense.
“It’s on me.”
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Most alarming, the Rebels’ acclaimed rushing attack entering the season has been slow out of the gates.
Quinshon Judkins set a new single-season Ole Miss record for rushing yards last season. He has 108 yards and is barely averaging 3.5 yards per carry through the first two weeks of his sophomore campaign.
“The run game is different from the passing game,” Kiffin said. “Sometimes in the passing game you can have a really good receiver and quarterback and get it out quick in one-on-one matchups. The run game takes everybody. You can be a great running back and not be having success because it takes everybody around him to block, including on the perimeter.
“We have to do a better job. We were very disappointed last week.”
Ole Miss will follow Georgia Tech with its SEC opener at Alabama next Saturday. The Crimson Tide is fresh off a loss to Texas. The teams are set for a 2:30 p.m. CT kick on CBS.
“It’s not Alabama week, and I’m already getting Alabama questions,” Kiffin said. “Sometimes an early loss over time has been really good and better than a late loss — to get into the playoffs and things.”
