Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin isn’t too worried about Oklahoma’s offensive changes coming into the 18th-ranked Rebels’ meeting with the Sooners on Saturday afternoon in Oxford, Miss.”We’ve got a lot of stuff to work on ourselves, that we worked on during the bye,” Kiffin said.The Rebels have dropped two of their last three heading into the game, rushing for just 137.3 yards per contest.”I feel like we have been out of rhythm for a little bit here,” Kiffin said of his offense.But while Ole Miss (5-2, 1-2 Southeastern Conference) has dipped on offense in three-point losses Kentucky and LSU, the Sooners have been struggling on that side of the ball all season.After last week’s 35-9 home loss to South Carolina, a team Ole Miss beat by 24 on the road in early October, Oklahoma coach Brent Venables fired offensive coordinator Seth Littrell. Tight ends coach Joe Jon Finley will take over playcalling duties and offensive analyst Kevin Johns will be co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.”It was an incredibly hard decision on many levels,” Venables said Tuesday. “With a 10,000-foot lens, it was not so difficult. We were not playing winning football on that side of the ball and thought a change would be appropriate — a change in leadership, a new voice, a new perspective a new lens, strategy, game-planning, sequencing, all of those things that go along with that position.”The Sooners enter this week ranked 128th nationally in total offense (out of 134 programs), 116th in passing offense and 114th in rushing offense.”We’ve been an abomination on offense this year,” Venables said.Oklahoma (4-3, 1-3) also will turn to a new quarterback.Quarterback Jackson Arnold will start against the Rebels, Venables announced earlier in the week, after taking over for Michael Hawkins Jr. early in last week’s loss. He completed 18 of 36 passes for 225 yards and a touchdown.
No. 18 Ole Miss looks to bounce back from close losses vs. Oklahoma
By
/