AFTER LOSS TO TIDE: Lane Kiffin knows Hogs played well before Georgia ambush

Don’t expect Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin to be telling folks this week to get their popcorn ready.

His pregame interview ended with him saying “get your popcorn ready” and then tossing his headset in an interview prior to Saturday’s game at Alabama.

“Get your popcorn ready.” – Lane Kiffin ? pic.twitter.com/ZDdr60cjuj

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) October 2, 2021

It didn’t work out well for the Rebels.

“I actually said to [offensive coordinator Jeff] Lebby, ‘I just said something really stupid. You better score a lot of points,'” Kiffin said Monday apologizing for the remark.

His comments following a 42-21 loss to No. 1 Alabama sounded a lot like Arkansas’ 37-0 loss to second-ranked Georgia.

“You go into that place with the number one team in the country and you don’t play really well in all areas, don’t execute and make mistakes, they’ll knock you down really quick, which is what happened,” Kiffin said.

Last year the Crimson Tide gave up a ton of points and yards in a 63-48 win that probably felt a lot closer than that.

He wasn’t getting into a lot of the game planning for the game with the Razorbacks at 11 a.m. Saturday morning, but Barry Odom’s spread-stopper defense had an effect.

“This is a scheme (the 3-2-6) we struggled with a year ago,” Kiffin said. “We basically switched to it pretty much on our defense, because it’s really good. They do a great job and they play super hard.”

He didn’t read a whole lot into the loss to the Bulldogs. The same thing happened to him in Tuscaloosa.

“You’ve got two super elite teams this year (Alabama and Georgia) with great players on both sides, but especially defense,” Kiffin said. “Then it seems like there’s kind of a drop-off. Gauging on that, everyone has struggled. They’ve just got great players and it exposes people.”

But he saw what they did before and knows what the Hogs can do.

“Prior to that (Arkansas) was playing extremely well,” Kiffin said. “They run the ball really well, they don’t give up explosive plays. I think they’re second in the country in pass defense.”