It was a rude awakening for Lane Kiffin in his first game as the head coach at Ole Miss, as his group fell to Florida 51-35 and allowed 642 total yards of offense.

SEC Network host Paul Finebaum is not panicking, however, in regards to Ole Miss. Finebaum has a good feeling about what Kiffin can accomplish in Oxford, despite the slow start.

“I feel pretty good about them,” said Finebaum on “The Paul Finebaum Show” on Monday. “I don’t think anyone thought the defense would be any good. That’s why Lane went out and brought in (D.J.) Durkin, who has a great (defensive) reputation, but there’s only so much you can do with limited players.

“But to manufacture that much offense, I thought, was a very positive sign. It leads me to believe that Ole Miss will surprise somebody this year. If it can win some of those ‘tweener games, I think they’ll be in really good shape. I know, long term, they will be.”

Ole Miss QB Matt Corral did put up nice numbers in the loss, completing 22-of-31 passes for 395 yards, 3 touchdowns and an interception.

If Finebaum is right, Ole Miss may come away with its first SEC win under Lane Kiffin this weekend, with a road trip to Kentucky to face Mark Stoops and the Wildcats on the schedule.