Ole Miss and Lane Kiffen had a chance to give Nick Saban his third loss last November. But when Jaxson Dart’s pass attempt fell incomplete in the red zone, Alabama escaped Oxford with a comeback 30-24 victory.

It was an emotional win for the Tide, which had lost on an overtime two-point conversion at LSU a week prior, and further showed the inconsistency that plagued its season. For the Rebels, though, it was the start of a freefall. Ole Miss wouldn’t win another game, spoiling an 8-1 start and finishing 8-5.

Kiffen commented on the downturn during his opening statement at SEC Media Days on Thursday:

“You know, to recap, we were on a really good run. I’m not going to say a great run, because we have extremely high standards. But, you know, coming off the 10-3 season, and really last year, we were 8-1, and with the ball in our hands to go down, obviously the 14-yard line, 1st and 10 with a chance to beat Alabama to have a great home win and to go to 9-1.

“So I think down the stretch there, after the Alabama game, I didn’t do a good enough job of finding a way to keep our guys playing at a high level because we did not play to our standards,” Kiffin said.

Kiffen noted that with a roster full of newcomers, either through the transfer portal or from high schools, it was hard for him to keep team chemistry in check. The players that accompanied Kiffen to the Nashville Grand Hyatt agreed. Senior cornerback Deantre Prince likened it to the LSU loss Ole Miss suffered in Death Valley.

“They beat us for the rest of the season honestly. I feel like we just let one game determine the rest of our season. I feel like LSU did the same thing,” Prince said.

Added senior defensive end Cedric Johnson: “I feel like we started off so hot during the season. We thought nothing could touch us. We finally hit a hard game and didn’t really know how to shake back. That’s what I felt like the main thing was.”

Ole Miss will get a shot at revenge when it opens Alabama’s SEC schedule on Sept. 23 in Bryant-Denny Stadium.

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Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].