By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com
Ole Miss football heads into game week against Troy to open the 2022 season on Saturday.
Head coach Lane Kiffin met with the media Monday to discuss the matchup.
“We are into game week,” Kiffin said. “We walked through today. Mondays are shorter practices.”
Kiffin added that the coaching staff has been grinding the team and wants them to have a couple light days in a row after the mock game this past weekend.
“We want to make sure they get their legs back before we go on our normal Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday routines,” Kiffin said.
In the mock game Luke Altmyer and Jaxson Dart both played against the service team.
“I thought they both played okay,” Kiffin said. “We still have not made a decision (for Saturday).”
Kiffin added that the coaches have not discussed a timeline for when to announce a starter.
This will be the third season under coach Kiffin, who has amassed an overall record of 15-8 since taking over. During that span, the Rebels won the Outback Bowl against Indiana, compiled a 10-2 regular season and made a Sugar Bowl appearance.
“You look at my background, where I’ve been, different places, and this statement may surprise you, and it probably would have surprised me if I’d said it a long time ago, but I look around town at so much excitement about the program, season ticket sales and everything, but I feel like I needed Oxford and Ole Miss a lot more than it needed me.
“I enjoy it here and it’s been awesome,” he said. “It’s been really cool. Now we have to take off from last year and rebuild and go perform on game days and keep our home winning streak alive.”
Troy rolls into Oxford with a whole new staff to face the Rebels.
“That’s difficult because you have to watch films from different teams,” Kiffin said. “It can be a problem in the opener because of the scheme and you might get lost in these players because they may not be on that team.”
Ole Miss will opens the season Saturday afternoon inside the Vaught at 3 p.m. and can be watched on SEC Network.