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‘We’ve grinded them pretty hard’: Lane Kiffin holds court to usher in Ole Miss game week

Ben Garrettby: Ben Garrett08/29/22SpiritBen
Lane Kiffin
Lane Kiffin

Third-year Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin said the Rebels kicked off game week on Monday with a typical walk-through practice.

Mondays are usually light, but Ole Miss didn’t do much on Sunday, either. During the season, Sundays, barring a short week on the schedule, are typically reserved for tape review and a little on-field correctional work.

But Kiffin said pulling back on the players for back-to-back days was by design. He wants to ensure the Rebels have their legs under them for the first four practice days (starting Tuesday) of what will become their normal weekly routine, not to mention their season-opener against Troy, which is set for Saturday at 3 p.m. CT.

“We’ve grinded them pretty hard,” Kiffin said. “Wanted to have two physical days off in a row after the mock game (on Saturday). In the mock game, in general, I don’t think we played great. As much as we try to create a game-day atmosphere and routine and get players to play really hard, sometimes this happens without a crowd.

“I did not think we played well in all three phases by any means. Actually, the other team played harder. We showed them that (Monday). You’ve got to show up every game, no matter who you’re playing, because that was our service team, and the game was a lot closer than it should have been.”

lane-kiffin-addresses-quarterback-situation-following-latest-practice-ole-miss-jaxson-dart-luke-altmyer
Lane Kiffin is entering his third season as Ole Miss head coach

Ole Miss rolled out its first official depth chart on Monday, too.

It was quickly deleted, but one major takeaway was quarterbacks Jaxson Dart and Luke Altmyer were listed as co-first teamers.

Dart is a transfer from USC, while Altmyer is a second-year former backup of Matt Corral, the all-time Ole Miss great the pair is competing to replace.

“We have still not made a quarterback decision,” Kiffin said. Saturday was the last full-team, game-like scrimmage of fall camp practices. “I thought they both played OK. I would have thought, again, we would’ve performed better in that situation against the other team.

“We’ll keep plugging away, and I do not know when we’ll have that answer. We haven’t discussed a timeline as coaches because it has not emerged at all.”

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