Lane Kiffin Analyzes Ole Miss Rebels' Success in Road Night Games

The Ole Miss Rebels head coach recently discussed what could make his team more successful than others in night games on the road.

Lane Kiffin loves analytics, but even he is open to learning more on the subject from time to time, especially in regards to his own tendencies.

The head coach of the No. 12 Ole Miss Rebels was asked during his Monday media availability about his success in road night games since his arrival in Oxford. In those contests, Kiffin has posted a 5-2 record, and with another night road win fresh on the minds of Rebel fans, it was a timely question.

Kiffin himself believes that in the Southeastern Conference, the difference between playing at home and on the road is larger than other conferences around the country.

“Well I know a lot of analytics, I didn’t know that one, so thank you,” Kiffin said on his record. “The SEC in general, I mean I know I actually looked this morning because I get a report about the home and road, and I don’t know this for other conferences. I think that the home and road thing in the SEC is bigger than any other conference.

“I think you have dramatically really hard places to play here, and here just like Saturday night, even Auburn having a down year. I mean that was an electric place and we got major cadence issues going on in the game that we can’t hear, and it didn’t help that someone behind our bench, one of the fans, had a whistle too. But I don’t know why we’ve had success at night, I mean it’s hard in this conference.”

Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin celebrates a pass interference call as Auburn Tigers take on Mississippi Rebels at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023. The Mississippi Rebels defeated the Auburn Tigers 28-21.   :: © Jake Crandall / USA TODAY NETWORK

Kiffin's teams are known for playing fast. A tempo-based offense is one of the hallmarks of the Rebels, and he believes that in itself provides somewhat of an advantage when playing on the road if some positive momentum can be established on a drive.

“I personally think even though we’ve had some false starts that tempo offense helps playing on the road in really loud places versus the old school huddle and cadence part,” Kiffin said. “So, I think it kind of makes it harder for fans to even know really when to be loud because you’re going so fast. Now, when you having some three-and-outs, it works against you like it did [vs. Auburn].”

The Rebels aren't on the road this weekend, but they do have another night game. Ole Miss will play host to the Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday night at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, and kickoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network.