Ole Miss standing by aggressive game plan at Alabama

There may not be a better game within a game in all of college football than Lane Kiffin versus Nick Saban.

Saturday’s game felt like it was decided early when the Rebels came away with nothing from their opening drive 16 plays, 59 yards, no points.

Ole Miss converted two fourth downs on the possession, but needed to pick up a third from the Alabama six-yard line to make it worth everyone’s while.

The Crimson Tide went on to score 35 unanswered points, leaving questions about the Rebels going just 2-5 on fourth down tries. Coach Kiffin said, “The question got asked to me, well, were you just doing that because it was Alabama? Were you being aggressive – no, that was all analytics and following it. And I think in those games because I’ve been in those discussions when you’re in the rooms – alright, what are we going to do? We’re playing – we’re the heavy underdog. Let’s just keep it close so it doesn’t look as bad and punt the ball away. Well, we don’t play that way. I said it’s like blackjack and there’s five dollars out there, everybody hits when they’re supposed to on 16. Then they’ve got all this money out there, they’re supposed to hit, they know it, but they don’t because they get scared, so that’s kind of the comparison.”

Ole Miss and Arkansas kick things off at 11 a.m. Saturday from Vaught Hemingway Stadium for this year’s homecoming.

The game will be televised on ESPN.