Lane Kiffin expresses exactly what he needs to see out of his Ole Miss Rebels in Week 2 against MTSU
The Ole Miss Rebels' 2024 college football campaign kicked off with a bang as they absolutely destroyed the Furman Paladins in Week 1 action, 76-0. Jaxson Dart set program records through the air and for total yards in a first half as the team made things look far too easy.Dart made incredible pass after incredible […]
The Ole Miss Rebels' 2024 college football campaign kicked off with a bang as they absolutely destroyed the Furman Paladins in Week 1 action, 76-0. Jaxson Dart set program records through the air and for total yards in a first half as the team made things look far too easy.
Dart made incredible pass after incredible pass, but perhaps none more impressive than on one deep shot in particular (as you can see in the post below) where he launched a rocket of a pass 50+ yards. Tre Harris didn't even have to move his hands to catch the ball. However, that was just one game, and the team has posted some fairly hot starts under Lane Kiffin before. So, what does Ole Miss need to focus on in their Week 2 game against MTSU?
When asked about his team's success in Week 1 and what he wants to see moving forward as the season progresses Lane Kiffin made it clear. He loves what he sees out of their passing game, but wants to make sure every aspect of the team is where they need to be.
"We'd really like to establish the run in this game. We were very pass oriented as the game went on [last] Saturday. We'd really like to establish the run in this game."
The passing game looked utterly effortless a week ago as the team put up 529 passing yards on 45 attempts. Even multi-sport phenom and redshirt freshman Austin Simmons looked good in his first collegiate action when Dart left the field. However, the team's run game looked much more choppy as multiple rushers struggled to eclipse even five yards per carry against a weak Furman defense. So, which running back will step up against MTSU? Henry Parrish? Ulysses Bentley? Somebody else?
Kiffin made it clear he needs to see consistency and top tier performance from his team every week. And not just in one facet of the game if Ole Miss wants to reach their goals this season.
"This team has only won one game. And so now we've got to get to 1-0 this week and that's all that matters. Doesn't matter what happened a year ago. And it really doesn't matter now what happened a week ago…Pointing to a case where we had a similar type of margin win to open last season. [We put up] some huge numbers on offense, and then went to Tulane and really struggled on offense. So, we've got to bring it every week."
It's true, while Ole Miss did eventually finish last season 11-2 with a Peach Bowl win over Penn State, they looked incredibly beatable after their game against Tulane in Week 2 of 2023. Their run game completely disappeared as the team averaged just 2.5 yards per carry and their passing production was cut nearly in half.
Hopefully Kiffin and his coaches can have the Rebels ready to go against MTSU so the team can continue ramping up and preparing for their SEC schedule. If their run game can hit their stride this week to go along with the elite passing attack led by Jaxson Dart, every team in the nation is going to struggle to hang with Ole MIss this season.
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