Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss aren’t into moral victories, and if there was a time for moral victories, Saturday night’s 63-48 shootout loss against Alabama may have been it.

Kiffin knows that the Rebels had the Tide on the ropes for much of the game and let them off the hook late in the 4th quarter, mainly because they couldn’t stop Alabama’s rushing attack with Najee Harris.

The Rebels head coach wasn’t thrilled with his team after the loss, and he was very confused by how Ole Miss fans acted after the game.

“I just told the players don’t be happy,” Kiffin said. “Fans were (giving) a standing ovation while we were walking off, and I was very confused with that. You know, we lost. Not that I don’t appreciate the fans doing that, but make sure the players understand we came here to win. We didn’t come here to play close and cover spreads or any of that crap. I told them they have tomorrow off and they’ve got to come back to work. We’ve got to get better. You just don’t get chances like this, and I think kids don’t understand that. You don’t get many chances to beat the number one team in the country….the best program in the entire country, and it’s right there to take.”

If you’re Ole Miss, you have to love this comment by Kiffin. You also have to love how fast the offense has turned around from last year.

However, it’s going to take some time to get some dudes on defense that can matchup with Alabama and others.