After an underwhelming showing in an upset loss to Kentucky over the weekend, the Ole Miss offense didn’t just assume the ship would right itself. And it was the players, led by quarterback Jaxson Dart, taking the initiative.

While the Sunday after a game is usually reserved for film study and recovery, the Rebels offensive unit got together early. And with Dart taking the lead, the Rebels talked things over.

“I feel like he’s one of the guys that definitely took it the hardest,” sophomore wideout Cayden Lee said. “He’s the one that made sure we had that meeting Sunday. He kind of led the meeting and talked things over and he’s definitely taking it hard. And this week I feel like we’ve got something in store, we’re going to do really good, I feel like.”

But to get to this better place, Lee said, the offense needed to be open and honest about what was bad against the Wildcats, from Dart on down the roster.

“Sunday morning following that, kind of talked things over, how we felt,” Lee said. “Like things went negative, what we could’ve did better. More how we’re going to do things going forward and what we can do different, because we don’t want that result to happen ever again.” 

The Ole Miss players weren’t the only ones feeling this way

During an appearance on SportsCenter on Monday, Paul Finebaum took aim at the Rebels for their lackluster performance.

“[They’re] not fine,” Finebaum said. “This is the best Ole Miss team in 60 years and they managed to lose to Kentucky. And I’m not dissing Kentucky. I know they took Georgia to the wire, but they still lost to South Carolina, and they’re not an upper-tier team. Ole Miss had no business losing to them.”

The Rebels entered the game on Saturday 4-0 but had faced just one Power Four opponent. Meanwhile, the Wildcats were already 0-2 in conference play and narrowly fell 13-12 to Georgia in Week 4. Kentucky was hungry and took advantage of Ole Miss’ inexperience against talented foes.

In the win, the Rebels’ offense sputtered, tallying 353 total yards while only converting 1-of-its-10 third-down attempts. While 353 yards may not be anything to scoff at for other teams, the Rebels were averaging the most yards per game in the country before the loss.

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