Ole Miss football had a ton of glaring issues that Lane Kiffin considered straight-up embarrassments in Ole Miss's 24-21 win against Washington State. The defense took a hit from their usual upward developmental arc by allowing hefty points to the Cougars.
The offense was in shambles, and was particularly embarrassing in terms of red zone efficiency, as QB Trinidad Chambliss' highly inaccurate pass coast the Rebels what could have been an early touchdown in the game.
However, there was one player who saved himself from Kiffin's reprimand: RB Kewan Lacy.
"Yeah, probably the one guy that stood out on not a really good day as a team," Kiffin said in his post-game press conference when asked about Lacy.
"Electric energy, making people miss. You had another really good run that got called back on a hold that really was a great effort run. And man, if we all played with that effort today, you know, we wouldn’t be feeling like this. So again, we survived."
Lacy running the ball and catching some crucial passes throughout the two halves, but mainly when the Rebels could hardly get the ball moving put Lacy rightfully on the map.
The Texas native averaged for 5.9 yards per rush attempt, totaling for 142 rushing yards in 24 attempts.
Lane Kiffin's brutally honest advice to his team
In his press conference previewing Week 7, Kiffin stressed on his point of view of not giving enough attention to their rankings; they only really matter in the final week.
This week, Kiffin had to reemphasize that point as he felt the rankings could have gotten into his team's heads, making up for a reason for their lackluster performance on Saturday.
"So you know maybe, you guys have heard me talk about reserving judgment of what’s bad and good. And maybe we’ll look back and say, this was good to have this game to wake us up and stop reading where we’re ranked and those things because, like I said, just on the radio, like we are ranked No. Four, we looked about like the 84th team in the country throughout that game."
"So, quit reading the rat poison and make plays. Don’t get a penalty by hitting the quarterback in the head when we’re off the field and finish drives."
It was clear that Kiffin was angry and disappointed, and wanted his squad to treat this win like a wakeup call.
Only time will tell how well the squad can get their undefeated streak and their performance on Saturday out of their heads.