No. 16 Ole Miss opened up a 24-0 halftime lead over visiting Liberty and despite a sloppy 2nd half cruised from there to a 27-14 win at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Saturday.
Rebels quarterback Matt Corral completed 20-of-27 passes for 324 yards and a touchdown in the winning effort, and Jerrion Ealy added 115 yards and 2 TDs on the ground.
It was also an opportunistic day for the Ole Miss defense, which picked off Flames standout quarterback Malik Willis 3 times, while also recording 9 sacks.
The win moved to the Rebels to 7-2 overall on the season ahead of next Saturday’s showdown with Texas A&M.
After the game, Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin met with the media.
Here’s a look at what he had to say about the victory.
On his team’s inconsistent play in the 2nd half:
Kiffin: "Glad to get the win. Get to 7-2, which is good. We really struggled to take the next step. First half was great…really played a bad second half. They have a very elite player that we contained in the first half and didn't in the second half."
— The Rebel Walk (@TheRebelWalk) November 6, 2021
On Sam Williams’ new single-season sack record of 10.5:
Kiffin on Sam Williams setting school single-season sack record: "That to me shows how special Sam is when you set the season record and you're in a three-man rush…"
— The Rebel Walk (@TheRebelWalk) November 6, 2021
On Corral’s play in the game:
Kiffin on Corral's #s: ..We have a very elite QB that did not practice the entire week…that's not easy to do and still be accurate like he was with the ball. There's a lot of QBs who wouldn't play…that's the age we're in. He didn't even question that. Says a lot about him."
— The Rebel Walk (@TheRebelWalk) November 6, 2021
On allowing 284 rushing yards in the game:
Kiffin: "We gave up some really explosive runs…we have a lot of improvement to do. I thought we wore down in the second half…"
— The Rebel Walk (@TheRebelWalk) November 6, 2021
On Ealy’s performance and his team’s inability to run the ball after halftime:
Kiffin on Ealy's game: "That was great. Very surprised after that run at our (team's) inability to run the ball. Penalties, really not smooth on offense the second half."
— The Rebel Walk (@TheRebelWalk) November 6, 2021
"Chris Wallace covers college football for Saturday Down South. He has covered college athletics for multiple newspapers and also worked previously for Rivals.com and GolfChannel.com."
