Saturday’s 28-10 win over then-No. 2 Georgia has No. 10 Ole Miss (8-2, 4-2) back on the inside track to reach the first 12-team College Football Playoff.
However, if you ask Lane Kiffin, the playoffs are already underway.
Such was the main message of Monday morning’s press conference, where Kiffin addressed the team’s mindset coming off the historic victory.
“We’ve kind of been in the playoffs for three games now,” he said. “We’ve got to continue to improve to stay alive for that.”
Two more games remain on the regular-season schedule: a road trip to Florida followed by the Egg Bowl on Black Friday.
Before that slate begins, the Rebels will have a bye, allowing those who are banged up to rest. This includes not only receiver Tre Harris, but also quarterback Jaxson Dart, who played through quite a bit of pain in Saturday’s contest.
“He played a lot on adrenaline and painkillers in order to do what he did,” Kiffin said of Dart. “It’s coming at a good time for him, from a health standpoint.”
Once that bye week is over, the focus will lie solely on the two games that follow – not on any potential playoff games down the road.
“We certainly are not in any position to start thinking about the players for the playoffs versus making sure we’re winning these games,” Kiffin said.
He believes, much like an NBA team putting new pieces together as the season goes on, Ole Miss is beginning to play its best ball late.
“I think what you’re seeing is, when those teams are put together, they take longer, sometimes, than teams that have been together for years, and then they perform better later in the year and they screw up early in the year sometimes,” Kiffin said. “I think that’s what you’re seeing here. Some people would say right now we’re playing as well as any team in the country, which we are.”
Part of that improved chemistry has come courtesy of the transfers who have come in over the past few offseasons. Many of them are doing so in roles that are not as big as at previous stops.
“A lot of guys have reduced roles from what they were doing at previous places or what they envisioned, and it just worked out that way,” Kiffin said. “They’ve done a really good job of handling that and playing in limited roles or special teams and buying in, which isn’t easy to do because, a lot of them, it’s their last year.”
SEC weekly honors
After kicking five field goals — including one from 53 yards — against Georgia, Caden Davis was named the SEC Special Teams Player of the Week.
Jared Ivey and Princely Umanmielen are co-winners of the Defensive Player of the Week honor. The defensive ends each had two sacks and combined for eight solo tackles.
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