South Carolina ‘one penalty away from being undefeated,’ Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin says

South Carolina hosts Ole Miss in a Southeastern Conference matchup on Saturday in Williams-Brice Stadium (3:30 p.m., ESPN).

Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin met with reporters on Monday to talk about the matchup.

The Rebels (4-1, 1-1 SEC) are coming off a loss to Kentucky . USC (3-1, 1-1) had the first of its two bye weeks.

The game is a homecoming for Ole Miss Antwane “Juice” Wells and offensive coordinator/tight ends coach Joe Cox. Wells was a receiver for the Gamecocks the last two years, and Cox was receivers coach at USC in 2020.

On matchup with South Carolina

“Really hard place to play. Going on the road at South Carolina. The team is really good and really easily is one penalty (against LSU) away from being undefeated and probably ranked really high,” Kiffin said. “These guys are much-improved from last year, especially on defense. So this is going to be a really tough challenge.”

Facing South Carolina’s pass rush

“Very different player types than last week (Kentucky). Polar opposites and very different schemes,” Kiffin said. “Kentucky is ultra sound, keeping things in front of you with really big bodies. … These guys (South Carolina) are built on speed and twitch. Both present problems.”

Preparing for USC offense, QB situation

South Carolina’s quarterback situation is up in the air. LaNorris Sellers missed the game against Akron on Sept. 21 and Gamecocks coach Shane Beamer will address Sellers’ status during his press conference on Tuesday. Auburn transfer Robby Ashford started in Sellers’ place and accounted for 376 yards and three touchdowns vs. Akron.

“These guys have good weapons and present a challenge with the ability to escape,” Kiffin said. “Robby is an elite runner and issues that come with that. So it is going to be a really big challenge for us.”

Ole Miss playoff hopes

Ole Miss suffered its first loss to Kentucky, 20-17, on Saturday and Kiffin was asked about his team’s mindset and the smaller margin for error for the team’s playoff hopes.

“I did address them today,” Kiffin said. “Just because you get all those questions, understand everything you want to do is still there. We are in a new age where a lot of people with one or multiple losses (can make the playoffs). It isn’t like the NFL where the records get in, but our conferences are moving toward. You see games where you think people are going to win and they don’t. Or they go down to the wire or in overtime versus people you don’t think they should because this conference is so good.”