Lane Kiffin has harsh words for his team and the fanbase as Ole Miss survives upset

​Part of being a top-five ranked team is that you're going to get your opponents' best shot. That was the case Saturday when Ole Miss had to rally in the second half to take down Washington State, 24-21.

The Cougars were 30-point underdogs, but they led 14-10 late in the third quarter before Trinidad Chambliss scored on a 17-yard scramble to give the Rebels a 17-14 lead they would hold on to. Despite the struggles, Ole Miss will survive another week as an undefeated team.

But that didn't give Lane Kiffin much comfort in his post-game press conference. The coach was frustrated with his offense and the Rebels student section, neither of which thrived for a 11:45 a.m. kickoff.

Do the early kickoffs matter?

Maybe they do for Kiffin because he's had some of his biggest struggles when the games start early. He's talked about kickoff times in the past and how Ole Miss always seems at a disadvantage. But with the Rebels being one of the few P4 teams playing a non-conference game this weekend in an otherwise stacked SEC schedule, the early kickoff shouldn't have been a surprise.

""It's on me. Maybe I've got to figure out a better way with these 11 a.m. kicks because, you know, we had two losses last year on them and obviously didn't play well today.""

Lane Kiffin

Today wasn't a loss and it wasn't loss on Kiffin that Washington State was at a definite disadvantage coming from the West Coast and playing at what is, in essence, a 9:45 a.m. kickoff from the Cougars.

"Credit to them too. Those guys played really well, those guys took a lot of risks on defense and came through on a lot of them with all the blitz zero. Those guys played really hard and really physical after a long road trip and really early kick for them," Kiffin added.

Offense starts slowly, rallies late.

Chambliss had another solid but, by his own admission, he missed some plays that could've put more distance between the Rebels and the Cougars. He did finish 20-of-29 for 253 yards with touchdown passes to Dae'Quan Wright and Cayden Lee. Chambliss didn't do much with his legs, but the touchdown scramble came at the right time to help secure the victory.

"I feel like we didn't execute as an offense. We were driving the whole game, moving the ball, we just couldn't finish in the red zone. I didn't play as well as I should as a quarterback," Chambliss said.

Kiffin put it into perspective, saying Chambliss didn't play to the level we've seen in his first three starts, but he still made the key play when it was needed. 

"Trinidad started slow...he did make some plays, especially on the drive at the end of the first half," Kiffin said."Overall, he did some good things. He made a really critical play obviously, on the touchdown scramble, but did not play consistently like he had. It is what it is. You're not going to play perfect every week."