After another Ole Miss football loss to Alabama, does Lane Kiffin have a big-game problem?

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ― Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin let the full weight of the Rebels' 24-10 loss to Alabama on Saturday fall on his shoulders.

He did not complain about the referees, as he often does following defeats. He did not spend too much time bemoaning his team's execution. When he was asked about the difference in athleticism between his Rebels (3-1, 0-1 SEC) and Alabama (3-1, 1-0), Kiffin decided against taking the opportunity to acknowledge the schism in ability that existed across the sidelines at Bryant-Denny Stadium, instead turning inward.

"We have to coach better," Kiffin said.

The Rebels could not spark the ground game that has made them a top-25 caliber program under Kiffin, leading the SEC in rushing yards in two of the last three seasons. Ole Miss rushed for 56 yards as a team. The SEC's leading rusher last season, Quinshon Judkins, carried the ball 13 times − also totaling 56 yards.

Kiffin said the Crimson Tide forced quarterback Jaxson Dart to keep the ball on many of the Rebels' run-pass option plays because of how Alabama arranged its defense. Kiffin also said, in his mind, big plays down the field held the more likely path to victory than a slow, plodding attack.

Whatever the reason or method, Alabama succeeded in diverting Ole Miss from its principles − a schematic victory for coach Nick Saban and his staff.

You can forgive Ole Miss fans for feeling as though this sort of thing is starting to happen too often, especially in the biggest games. Since taking charge of the Rebels for the 2020 season, Kiffin is 3-7 against teams that went on to finish in the AP's Final Top 25. Let's take a bold step and say this Alabama team will achieve that this season and call it 3-8 after Saturday's loss. Two of those victories came outside of SEC play: Troy in 2022 and Indiana in 2020.

Even against what looks like the most vulnerable version of the Crimson Tide we've seen in years, the Rebels failed to take a chunk out of the SEC's upper tier.

"This is just really disappointing because we, as a team, felt like this was the year to get them," Dart said.

The goal here is not to paint Kiffin as somehow unfit or unwilling to rise to his program's biggest moments. Maybe that's true. Maybe it isn't. It is impossible to know externally whether Kiffin truly gets in his own way when the Rebels face off against the Alabamas and LSUs of the world.

Rather, let's consider what he's up against. Over the last four cycles, 88% of the recruits and transfers Alabama has signed have been ranked as four-star or above by the 247Sports Composite. LSU, which will visit the Rebels next Saturday (5 p.m., ESPN), sits at 71%.

Ole Miss' percentage − transfers included? Only 33.3%.

FULL RECAP: Ole Miss football offense, Lane Kiffin sputtered and stopped in loss to Alabama, Nick Saban

Even against a team as flawed as Alabama seemed coming into Saturday, the demand that schism puts on Kiffin ‑ and his players − is considerable. Perhaps it should not be surprising that the Rebels have rarely managed to overcome it. Kiffin said this week that the only player on Ole Miss' roster that Alabama truly wanted was Suntarine Perkins, a five-star freshman linebacker. It is probably not coincidental that Perkins was the only player on the Ole Miss' roster who seemed to truly keep pace athletically.

"These guys got great players, and you can only keep them down so long," Kiffin said. "You gotta steal scores when you get the chance."

Facing superior athletes at just about every turn, Ole Miss did not.

Kiffin is right. He does have to coach better. To win these games, that phrase includes more than just the part that comes on Saturdays.

David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.

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This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Lane Kiffin has big-game problem after Ole Miss loss to Alabama