First Scouting Report: At Ole Miss, UK will face a different type of Lane Kiffin team

Mark Story
·3 min read

An early look ahead to the Kentucky Wildcats’ next football game:

The opponent

No. 8 Kentucky (4-0, 1-0 SEC) will play No. 16 Mississippi (4-0, 0-0 SEC) on Saturday (Oct. 1) at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium (seating capacity 64,038) in Oxford, Miss.

The game will kick off at noon (EDT) and will be telecast by ESPN.

Coach Lane Kiffin’s Rebels beat Tulsa 35-27 Saturday in Oxford.

Series history

Mississippi leads 29-14-1, and has won the past two games vs. Kentucky by a combined total of four points — 42-41 in in overtime in 2020 and 37-34 in 2017.

Most recent meeting

Matt Corral threw for 320 yards and four touchdowns to rally Mississippi from a 28-14 second-half deficit to a 42-41 overtime victory over Kentucky on Oct. 3, 2020, at Kroger Field.

UK scored first in the OT to take a 41-35 lead on a 10-yard TD run by Terry Wilson but Matt Ruffolo’s PAT failed. Ole Miss then answered with a 3-yard touchdown pass from Corral to Elijah Moore. Luke Logan converted the PAT to give Mississippi the win.

It was the first victory as Rebels head man for Lane Kiffin.

Know your foe

1. In his third year as Mississippi head man, Lane Kiffin is 19-8 as coach of the Rebels. No longer the coaching wunderkind at age 47, Kiffin has gone a combined 14-3 in 2021 and in 2022 so far.

Overall as a college head man at Tennessee, Southern California, Florida Atlantic and Mississippi, Kiffin is 81-42 in 11 years.

Kiffin is 2-0 vs. Kentucky with both victories coming in overtime.

In addition to the 2020 Ole Miss victory at UK, Kiffin was the Tennessee head man in 2009 when the Volunteers escaped Lexington with a 30-24 overtime victory over Kentucky.

2. Though people tend to associate a wide-open passing attack with Kiffin-led teams, going into Saturday’s game vs. Tulsa, Mississippi has been pulverizing opponents with a powerful rushing attack. The Rebels stood No. 5 in the FBS in rushing yards a game with an average of 271.7 yards a contest.

TCU transfer Zack Evans entered play this weekend 19th in the country in rushing with 317 yards. Freshman Quinshon Judkins was 32nd in the FBS in rushing with 289 yards.

Going into Saturday’s game with Tulsa, Mississippi running back Zach Evans (6) was 19th in the FBS in rushing with 317 rushing yards.
Going into Saturday’s game with Tulsa, Mississippi running back Zach Evans (6) was 19th in the FBS in rushing with 317 rushing yards.

In its three games before this week, Ole Miss had run for 266 yards (Troy), 233 (Central Arkansas) and 316 (Georgia Tech).

The Rebels will be a stout test for a Kentucky run defense that entered this weekend ranked No. 37 in the FBS against the rush, allowing an average of 152 yards a game.

3. Mississippi has used its punishing ground attack to take pressure off of quarterback Jaxson Dart. The 6-foot-2, 230-pound sophomore, a transfer from Southern California, entered Saturday’s play having completed 38 of 58 passes for 556 yards and three TDs vs. two picks.

Strange as it sounds to say about a Lane Kiffin-led team, defenses are going to try to slow the powerful Ole Miss running game and force the Rebels to try to beat them through the air.

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest Stories

  • Pickleballers, rejoice: Prince's new Target collab has everything you need to stand out on the court

    Step up your style game with these retro-inspired pullovers, hoodies, belt bags and more.

  • US Air Force awards Doomsday plane contract to Sierra Nevada

    The Survivable Airborne Operations Center (SAOC) project is intended to replace the aging 1970s-era aircraft, which is approaching end-of-service life, a Air Force spokesperson said in a statement. To satisfy operational requirements, the weapon system will comprise of a commercial derivative jet hardened and modified to meet military requirements. Reuters in December reported that the U.S. Air Force eliminated Boeing from its competition to develop a successor to the E-4B Nightwatch.

  • Mississippi police were at odds as they searched for missing man, widow says

    In the weeks after Sudanese Civil War refugee Dau Mabil vanished without a trace in Mississippi, officers from two police agencies blamed each other for the stalled investigation, his widow told The Associated Press. Fishermen, not police, spotted Mabil's body floating in a river about 60 miles (97 kilometers) south of where he went missing in Jackson on March 25. Relatives and volunteers spent weeks looking for Mabil, who disappeared during a daytime walk near his home.

  • Michael Penix Jr. said Kirk Cousins called him after Falcons' surprising draft selection

    Atlanta Falcons first-round draft pick Michael Penix Jr. said quarterback Kirk Cousins called him after he was picked No. 8 overall in one of the 2024 NFL Draft's more puzzling selections.

  • QPR beat Leeds to seal survival & send Foxes up

    QPR secure their Championship survival in style with a 4-0 win against Leeds - a result that sends Leicester up.

  • "It's gonna help a lot man, help a lot of families"

    The lack of work not just impacting area businesses, but the workers who keep those businesses running. On Friday those workers affected by the Key Bridge collapse got some much needed assistance. Saval Food Service gave those workers a free lunch as well as free groceries to take home to their families.

  • New studio promises boundless opportunities for community

    A popular local theatre organization is opening a new studio downtown, with Boundless possibilities! Vocally Inspired Performers (VIP) founder, Marisa Hachey, says this new adventure has been a long time in the making. “We searched for over a year for our perfect location and are delighted to have found the ideal spot, right in the heart of town,” says Hachey. The Boundless studio is located at 5 Bascom Street, a convenient, short walk from the Uxbridge Music Hall, where the group often performs

  • Stock market today: Indexes gain as investors assess new inflation data and latest earnings

    Personal consumption expenditures data showed prices ticked up 2.8% year-over-year in March, slightly higher than expected.

  • Wow, Did Joe Biden Go On A Regulation Tear This Week

    The new rules also say a lot about the president's priorities, and what he thinks about the problems facing the American public.

  • UPDATE 1-Kinder Morgan declares force majeure on west Texas natgas pipeline

    Pipeline operator Kinder Morgan said on Friday a fire that erupted on a west Texas natural gas pipeline it operates was extinguished after burning for most of the day. The Houston company declared force majeure on a segment of the pipeline in Ward County, Texas, following the fire, according to a notice filed on a company website on Friday. The force majeure affects the Lockridge Lateral segment of the Natural Gas Pipeline of America system.

  • WMAR-2 News Cesar Cornejo Friday weather

    WMAR-2 News Cesar Cornejo Friday weather

  • Jordan Spieth, Will Zalatoris highlight field for PGA Tour’s 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson

    The PGA Tour is heading back to Texas.

  • ‘Challengers’ Was Like One Big, Sexy Quiet Luxury Ad (And We’re Here for It)

    Scouted/The Daily Beast/MGM/On.Scouted selects products independently. If you purchase something from our posts, we may earn a small commission.Move over, Saltburn. There’s a new movie about bodily fluids, bi-panic, and a group of painfully hot narcissists that has everyone in a chokehold right now. Unless you have been living under a rock (good for you, TBH), you’ve probably seen the many spicy posts on X about Challengers, the latest Luca Guadagnino film that opens in US theaters this week—or,

  • Tornado tears through Nebraska, causing severe damage in Omaha suburbs

    OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A tornado plowed through suburban Omaha, Nebraska, on Friday afternoon, demolishing homes as the twister tore for miles along farmland and into subdivisions. It wasn’t yet clear if anyone was injured or killed in the storm. Multiple tornadoes were reported in Nebraska but the most destructive storm moved from a largely rural area into suburbs northwest of Omaha, a city of 485,000 people. Photos on social media showed heavily damaged homes and shredded trees. Video showed homes

  • Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler wins dismissal for good of sexual assault lawsuit

    A federal judge in Manhattan dismissed for good a lawsuit accusing Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler of sexually assaulting a former teenage model twice in one day in the mid-1970s. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan said Jeanne Bellino cannot recover damages from the 76-year-old Tyler under a 2000 New York City law protecting victims of gender-motivated violence. He said it would be futile to file an amended complaint, and dismissed Bellino's case with prejudice, meaning it cannot be brought again.

  • Harvey Weinstein to Appear in New York Court After Conviction Overturned

    Etienne Laurent-Pool/Getty ImagesHarvey Weinstein is coming back to court.The disgraced Hollywood producer is set to return to Manhattan Supreme Court next week, less than a week after the state’s highest court overturned his 2020 rape conviction. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office confirmed to The Daily Beast he will appear Wednesday before Judge Curtis Farber—a different justice than the one who previously handled his case. In a 4-3 decision, the New York Court of Appeals ordered a new t

  • Madrid replacements too good for Sociedad and take step closer to La Liga title

    SAN SEBASTIAN, Spain (AP) — Real Madrid moved one step closer to a 36th Spanish league title after beating Real Sociedad 1-0 and extending its lead atop of the table to 14 points on Friday. Carlo Ancelotti’s men need just five points from their last five games to ensure the title will return to the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. On a rainy night in San Sebastian, Madrid put out a second-string team to rest Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior and other regulars for the visit to the Basque country. The n

  • San Francisco Casts Lens on Art, Fashion and Activism

    SFMOMA holds latest Art Bash fundraiser, while couture history and ethical fashion get the spotlight at the de Young, courtesy of FiSF and Wear Your Values.

  • Are weighted sleep products safe for babies? Lawmaker questions companies, stores pull sales

    Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut says two companies have refused to address "broad, unverified safety claims about their products."

  • Football fans looking to ‘Restore the Roar’

    The Uxbridge Tigers are on track for a touchdown, with the revival of high school football. For many high school students, Uxbridge Secondary School alumni included, football is central to their high school experience. Due to the financial stress of the sport, USS canceled its football program in 2012, though now, a selection of alumni and enthusiasts are looking to Restore the Roar with the help of the community. Remembering their high school days, Restore the Roar organizer Michael Kerford app