Lane Kiffin Believes Ole Miss Football Made a 'Statement' in Gator Bowl Win

Lane Kiffin believes his team's blowout win over the Duke Blue Devils was a statement on Thursday night.

Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin gives a thumbs up while walking off the field after the game of the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. Ole Miss defeated Duke 52-20. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union] / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The No. 14 Ole Miss Rebels dominated the Duke Blue Devils in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl on Thursday night to the tune of a 52-20 final score, and it's clear that coach Lane Kiffin's team was motivated to play well in the bowl game.

After the win, Kiffin gave a lengthy opening statement in his media availability where he stated that his team wanted to "make a statement" against an ACC team after being left out of the College Football Playoff. Kiffin was not shy about pleading Ole Miss' case to the CFP committee prior to Selection Sunday, but ultimately, the Rebels wound up in the Gator Bowl.

"That's a really good team. We played a team that won nine games and had one of the best defenses statistically in the country," Kiffin said. "I think they were best in negative plays in the ACC and very well coached. I know our guys talked a lot over the course of the month, especially last week of making a statement, feeling that they were left out of the playoffs.

"They really wanted to make a statement against an ACC team that had two teams in the playoffs and a team that took SMU to overtime. Proud of the way they played. We screwed up with the fake field goal early, but outside of that, completely dominated a nine-win team on offense and defense in the game. That was great to see."

Ole Miss' last score of the night came on a 69-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jaxson Dart to wide receiver Jordan Watkins, both of whom have now played their final game in a Rebel uniform. That play came late in the fourth quarter, and Kiffin said that Dart was actually supposed to hand the ball off but audibled to the pass to Watkins.

While the Rebels coach wasn't pleased with his quarterback's decision there, he believed the rest of the night followed a common theme.

"The rest of the day was a really big statement about these guys," Kiffin said. "Not just how good of a team they are with 10 wins, and all 10 wins are double-digit wins, but these are games that a lot of teams struggle to show up for. Players opt out, or even if they don't, you've seen some teams that were really good teams struggle in a non-playoff bowl game. Really pleased for our guys to show up. It was great to see."

It was well-known entering the 2024 season that Ole Miss' ultimate goal was to reach the College Football Playoff, and even though the Rebels fell short of that aspiration, Kiffin is still making comments about his team working to prove that it belonged in the field.

Ole Miss likely would have been in the CFP field had it not lost three regular season games (including one to a Kentucky team that struggled for the rest of conference play), but that hasn't stopped Kiffin. If anything, Thursday's performance was viewed as a way for the Rebels to show that they still believed they could have been competitive in the playoff, and that motivation was evident based on the final score.