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Ole Miss welcomed Kentucky to Oxford on Saturday as more than two touchdown favorites but looked up at the scoreboard when the clock hit zeros as 20-17 losers. While it wouldn’t be entirely accurate to call it a bad day at the home office for the Ole Miss offense, the Rebels and quarterback Jaxson Dart were never able to find a rhythm against the Wildcats, and some of that frustration seems to be looming days after the team’s loss.

The Rebels out gained the Wildcats 353-336 on Saturday, but that statistic does not come close to painting a picture of the contest. The most telling statistic from Saturday’s box score was the time of possession, with Kentucky having the ball for nearly 40 minutes compared to just 20:17 for the Ole Miss offense. 

A turnover by Ole Miss and the offense converting just one of 10 third downs kept the offense off the field and let Kentucky control just about every aspect of the game.

The Rebel offense simply looked lackluster for the majority of the game, which is a shocker given how explosive it had been through the first four weeks of the season. Head coach Lane Kiffin, offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. and Dart were unable to make meaningful adjustments at the right time, and the Ole Miss quarterback isn’t hiding from that fact.

“I just wish that we could’ve made adjustments sooner than we did. We got caught in too many third-and-longs, and we play in the SEC, that’s just really hard to convert. There’s a lot of things that we have to look at on tape and find ways to not be in that situation again,” Dart told reporters Monday.

Jaxson Dart wishes the Ole Miss staff made faster adjustments during the Rebels’ loss at home to Kentucky. (Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images)

While Dart’s quote is far from Earth-shattering or him throwing some sort of shot at his coaching staff, one could argue it is him sending a subtle message to the staff about the obvious, and that is things simply must be better if Ole Miss wants to continue to chase its dream of making the college football playoff.

Dart is typically a very mellow person at the podium, so his statement about wishing changes were made “sooner” is a bit eye-opening, and not just for Rebel fans, but perhaps Rebel coaches as well.