Lane Kiffin Reveals Takeaways From Ole Miss' Second Scrimmage of Fall Camp

How did Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin view his team's second scrimmage of fall camp over the weekend?

Ole Miss Rebels defensive lineman Walter Nolen during fall camp. / Ole Miss Athletics

The Ole Miss Rebels held another team scrimmage inside Vaught-Hemingway Stadium over the weekend, and head coach Lane Kiffin thinks that one unit on his team continues to shine.

During media availability on Monday, Kiffin was asked about takeaways along the line of scrimmage from the weekend's scrimmage, since he previously had heavy praise for his defensive line. This week, that theme was the same as defensive coordinator Pete Golding's front seven won the day.

"I thought the defensive line played extremely well again," Kiffin said. "Really caused us, including our first offense, some issues. That's kind of been the theme of camp, that unit playing really well. They did again, and they have a lot of different body types in that unit that are really hard to deal with. Obviously that's our team, so that's a good thing.

"I think our offensive line has a chance to be improved. I think they're headed the right direction, and those guys haven't played together. That takes some time too."

Kiffin is not ready to name a starting five for his offensive line just yet, and he stated that some of those position battles could continue into the regular season, considering kickoff is less than two weeks away.

"Still is a lot of competition there," Kiffin said. "Just like any competition, that could continue on. There isn't a deadline that the first game means there's no competition and those 22 starters are your 22 starters from then on. Still a lot of good really competition and guys doing really well on the offensive line."

Both the offensive and defensive lines at Ole Miss will look different this season. The Rebels added transfers like Walter Nolen and Princely Umanmielen along the defensive front during the offseason, and names like Nate Kalepo, Julius Buelow, Diego Pounds and Gerquan Scott came into the fold offensively.

There will be some returners from a year ago who continue to make an impact in those units, but the bottom line remains that Ole Miss beefed up its presence on the line of scrimmage in hopes of having better trench play against SEC opponents. It seems that those investments are paying off during fall camp, even if the defensive line is currently ahead of its offensive counterparts.

The Rebels will open their season at home against the FCS Furman Paladins on Aug. 31.