Lane Kiffin praises ‘old-school mentality’ of Penn State defense

Saturday’s Peach Bowl will be the quintessential “styles make fights” matchup of college football bowl season. Ole Miss comes to Atlanta with one of the top offensive attacks nationally. Standing in the Rebels’ path is the stout defense of Penn State football, regarded as the best unit in the country. Earlier this week, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin spoke about the challenge of facing the Nittany Lions defense, which he believes brings an “old school mentality” to the modern era of the sport.

Lane Kiffin praises physicality of Penn State defense

It will be strength-on-strength when the Ole Miss offense and Penn State defense are on the field on Saturday. The Rebels come into this Peach Bowl matchup ranked 15th and 19th in total and scoring offense, respectively, this season. Lane Kiffin’s group will present a dynamic challenge for the Nittany Lions and will likely be the most explosive offensive attack Penn State has seen all season.

But equally as stout is the Penn State defense. The Nittany Lions are top five in scoring, passing, and rushing defense, and lead the country in total yards allowed and sacks this season.

It’s a challenge that neither side is taking lightly. On Tuesday, Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin explained why Penn State will pose such a tough test for his offense on Saturday.

“I think they play really hard. Obviously, they have great players, elite talent, great coaching. But they play really, really hard and really physical at home and on the road,” he said.

“Sometimes you see these teams with electric home atmospheres and advantages, like these guys have, like some of the SEC teams, but then they won’t play quite as hard defensively on the road. These guys are not like that. These guys bring an old-school mentality with new-school elite talent.”

Penn State football coach James Franklin returned the compliments to his counterpart earlier this week, praising the Rebels’ play under QB Jaxson Dart.

Ole Miss contends that Nittany Lions are still lethal, despite departures

As expected, the NFL Draft is coming hard for Penn State football on the defensive side of the ball. Four Nittany Lion defenders have already declared for the Draft, most recently DE Adisa Isaac on Wednesday night.

However, the Penn State defense hasn’t been ravaged by opt-outs heading into the Peach Bowl. To date, Chop Robinson is the only defender we know will not play. CB Johnny Dixon is widely expected to be an opt-out, but has not officially declared for the Draft.

Isaac, LB Curtis Jacobs, and CB Daequan Hardy have all expressed their intentions to play, while CB Kalen King is expected to suit up even without an official announcement.

But Ole Miss isn’t taking the Nittany Lions defense for granted, regardless of who is on the field Saturday afternoon.

“I think their defense as a whole is elite, even without them,” Jaxson Dart said two weeks ago. “So, there’s a lot of talent over there. And they play really well together. They’re super disciplined. And I think that they just have a great culture. You can see it on their film.”

Kickoff between Penn State football and Ole Miss is set for Saturday at noon on ESPN.

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