Kiffin apologizes to gamblers after Ole Miss’ SEC road win originally appeared on The Sporting News
Lane Kiffin summed it up bluntly. “Coming on the road in the SEC and winning is a hard thing to do,” he said after Ole Miss’ 30–23 victory in Lexington. “You play four of these every year and they’re hard. So it’s like you just have a relief to cross them off and get wins on the road. So proud of our guys.”
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The Rebels trailed 10–0 before a gutsy fourth-down throw from Austin Simmons to Harrison Wallace flipped momentum. “That really, to me, was a big turn,” Kiffin said. From there, Ole Miss ripped off a 30–10 run before Kentucky tacked on a late field goal with eight seconds left.
That kick not only tightened the final margin, it shifted the point spread. Kiffin didn’t shy away from the irony. “Sorry to a lot of gamblers there at the end,” he said with a grin, a nod to Kentucky’s backdoor cover as an 8.5-point underdog.
Kiffin praised his quarterback’s toughness after two early interceptions. “We have a lot of confidence in him and just knew he’d make the plays,” he said. “He’s tough. He’s so mature for his age.” He also highlighted running back Kewan Lacy, who powered the offense with balance: “You got 48 rushes and 24 passes. Probably would have predicted that to happen in a good way. He’s a huge part of that.”
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On defense, the head coach pointed to his linemen. “These road games just feel a lot better when you have good D-line… to have a really good one again that can end games and put pressure on a quarterback like that is awesome.”
For Kiffin, the night was both a statement and a reminder. “Today was a good SEC start,” he said. “Again, winning the SEC is hard, but winning on the road in the SEC is hard. And so, you can start 1–0 in the SEC when they put you week two at a game is great.”
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