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    • Ole Miss football loses to Kentucky in its first tough game
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    Ole Miss football loses to Kentucky in its first tough game

    Idris Bevan Posted on

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    OXFORD – There is a downside to the 11 a.m. kicks for Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin. When games start in the morning, it’s harder to move on from a loss.

    “It’s 3 p.m., so you have all day to sit around and deal with this,” Kiffin said. “It could have gone so many different ways, but we didn’t make the plays. We didn’t finish it.”

    Ole Miss lost 20-17 to Kentucky on Saturday at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. It was a cool, overcast home game with a record crowd of 67,616 spectators. This record was not announced on the video board in the middle of the game.

    As nerves turned to fear, there weren’t many opportunities for fans to celebrate. After four weeks of decimated teams, No. 6 Ole Miss (4-1, 0-1 SEC) played poorly on offense, defense and special teams. Kentucky (3-2, 1-2) took advantage.

    That’s why Saturday was particularly long for Kiffin. The defeat was the result of a team-wide melee.

    “All three phases had chances to win the game or at least draw the game and failed,” Kiffin said. “Credit (Kentucky). Big win for them. But very discouraging, disappointing.”

    The Ole Miss special teams chance was evident with 48 seconds left. Senior kicker Caden Davis’ potential game-winning field goal sailed wide left. However, there was more to it than that.

    The Rebels offense came into the game averaging 582 yards per game. On Saturday they gained 353. Third downs were particularly problematic. Ole Miss moved the chains just once in 10 third-down snaps.

    “We’ve gotten into too many third-and-longs, playing in the SEC, and that’s really hard to do,” quarterback Jaxson Dart said. “There are a lot of things we need to look at on tape and find ways to not end up in this situation again.”

    A season-low offensive performance paired with a lackluster defensive game. The Rebels’ defense was great at times, especially the defensive front, which sacked Kentucky quarterback Brock Vandagriff five times. However, giving up late big plays and penalties doomed the Rebels defense.

    With Kentucky desperately facing fourth-and-7 on its 20-yard line, the Wildcats hit a 63-yard pass down the left sideline with 3:49 left. Vandagriff withstood the pressure in the pocket and sailed a deep ball to Barion Brown, who beat man coverage with a go route. This ultimately led to the game-winning touchdown.

    “There are good moments and there are bad moments. We have to identify better with the routes and let the ball play,” said safety Trey Washington. “We just have to get better overall as a team.”

    Kiffin said that playing poorly in all three phases at the same time was too much.

    “These things just won’t add up,” Kiffin said.

    Sam Hutchens covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at [email protected] or reach him on X @Sam_Hutchens_

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    Idris Bevan
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