After Ole Miss win, Lane Kiffin says Kentucky, Will Levis got exactly what they wanted

After his 14th-ranked Ole Miss team had dispatched No. 7 Kentucky Saturday afternoon, Lane Kiffin called out his own team's offense -- and likewise made clear his players had heard or read the comments of Kentucky offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello earlier this week.

The Rebels' defense had amassed 13 sacks prior to the game against the Wildcats and had quickly cultivated a reputation for bringing pressure to opposing quarterbacks and offenses.

Scangarello said that both he and much-ballyhooed Wildcats quarterback Will Levis welcomed such an approach.

"I hope they do [bring pressure]; literally, this offense was built for pressure," said Scangarello, hired earlier this year from the NFL to take over the Wildcats' offense. "Will and I talk about it every week, (saying) 'They'll learn at some point.' 

"Keep bringing it, I hope you do."

Ask and ye shall receive. In thwarting Kentucky's perfect start and sustaining its best open to a season since 2014, Ole Miss sacked Levis three times, forced him into a pair of fourth-quarter fumbles that sealed the Rebels' 22-19 win and had nine total tackles for loss.

Interviewed on the field by ESPN after the win, Kiffin called out his own offense but praised the Rebels' defense.

"They (Rebels defenders) rushed," Kiffin said of the unit's pressure on Levis. "They were motivated all week by their offensive coordinator saying bring the blitz, and we'll light you up.

"There you go."

Kiffin also praised the Ole Miss home crowd -- he earlier had likened the scene to a high school game after halftime of last week's win against Tulsa -- while he emphasized the Rebels have much work to get done.

"They (the fans) were a lot better than our four-minute offense," Kiffin deadpanned. 

Ole Miss's football Twitter account also got into the act, trolling the Wildcats with a stock photo of a basketball -- a clear reference to the late-summer feud between UK basketball coach John Calipari and the Cats' football leader, Stoops, after Calipari emphasized that Kentucky was and is "a basketball school."