At 4-5 on the season, Mississippi head football coach Lane Kiffin knows things have not gone as he would have expected in his first season with the Rebels.
However, the veteran coach is looking to get things turned around when they take on Indiana (6-1) Saturday in the Outback Bowl in Tampa.
For the Rebels, it marks their first ever appearance in the Outback Bowl and first game in Florida since the 1991 Gator Bowl. Perhaps, more important, is the fact the Outback Bowl is also the first bowl game for Ole Miss since they knocked off Oklahoma State to win the Sugar Bowl to cap the 2015 season.
On Monday, Kiffin met with the media and said he is “excited” about the opportunity to play Indiana.
“Really excited for our players that they get to go to a bowl game. It is the first time in five years, we’ve been in a bowl game. Excited about this matchup and bowl game in Tampa. I’m sure a lot of fans are excited. The challenge is to play really well and win the game. We are going to come back and go into the indoor and see that banner, and what do you want that banner to say,” Kiffin said.
For the Rebels, there are a series of issues Kiffin and his team have dealt with in recent weeks from players opting out to turn pro to injuries. As a result, the Rebels will be without wide receiver Elijah Moore and tight end Kenny Yeboah.
In six games, Moore had 100 or more yards receiving and he went for 225 yards or more three times. As for Yeboah, on the season, he caught 27 balls for 524 yards and six touchdowns.
Injury-wise, wide receiver Braylon Sanders and running back Jerrion Ealy both missed time in the regular season finale against LSU with injuries.
Ealy has 745 yards on 147 touches this season, while Sanders has 15 receptions for an average of 25 yards per catch.
Kiffin was asked if he and the Rebels considered not playing in the Outback Bowl due to Covid-19 numbers and issues, and he immediately shot that thought down.
“We have not talked about not playing the game. We want to be a part of the bowl game after not being a part of one for so long. I am not sure what our numbers are. For whatever reason, our issues were on the defense early with injuries and covid, and now they are on the offense,” said Kiffin, who also added he has several players whose status is unknown as they discussed possibly opting out. “We have a few guys up in the air that have taken some time off and I don’t know. We are recruiting our own players to play in a bowl game, it is what it is.”
Kiffin acknowledged Indiana presents some challenges on the defensive side and he can see why the Hoosiers are bringing a 6-1 record to Tampa.
“They are really good, reason why they are 6-1. Very challenging on defense, schematically, play really hard and create a lot of turnovers. We are struggling and running out of players, which is not ideal when you are a tempo offense, but it is what it is,” Kiffin said.
As for the Indiana defense, which leads the nation in interceptions, Kiffin said he doesn’t know if the Hoosiers are the best defense he has played this season, but notes they are as productive as anyone else from a turnover standpoint, and said the Hoosiers remind him of the Ole Miss teams when he was an assistant at Alabama.
“Those defenses were good, played really hard, were undersized at some positions, but forced turnovers,” Kiffin said.
The veteran coach did tell the media that while Indiana will not have Michael Penix at quarterback, they still have a talented offense, especially with All-American wide receiver Ty Fryfogle in the mix.
“I think they changed a little bit. Penix is such a good athlete, but they run the ball well. We have had challenges all year on defense regardless and have had a big challenge to play well on defense and special teams. Fryfogle makes plays and is something to deal with. We’ve played against a lot of great players and feel like we are playing another SEC game,” Kiffin said.
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