Ole Miss football: 3 takeaways from shocking 2022 Egg Bowl loss

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Nov 24, 2022; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin reacts while a play is revewed during the fourth quarter of the game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports /

1. This loss was on Lane Kiffin

Losing the way Ole Miss did was just heart-wrenching. The Rebels probably should have been able to tie the game or at least make things interesting after missing the two-point conversion, but a major coaching gaffe didn’t allow that.

Lane Kiffin was to blame for this loss.

How? Well, besides focusing on rumors all week and fighting with local TV reporters on Twitter, Kiffin was just flat-out out-coached against Mike Leach. His two timeouts used on a two-point conversion attempt with just over a minute left in the game really was the difference between losing and having another shot to take the lead.

Ole Miss had its timeouts heading into that two-point conversion attempt to tie the game and Kiffin decided to use not just one, but two and still didn’t convert. That meant that he had just one left to stop the clock on Mississippi State if the Rebels didn’t recover the onside kick and the game would be over. They didn’t recover and the game was over.

Kiffin owes his players a huge apology for this loss.

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