Kiffin: Quarterback competition likely will continue
OXFORD — The Grove Bowl is this week, but don’t expect coach Lane Kiffin or anyone from Ole Miss football to name a starting quarterback afterward.
Heading into Ole Miss‘s spring game Saturday (noon, SEC Network+) at Vaught Hemingway Stadium, the race between sophomore Luke Altmyer and USC transfer Jaxson Dart is tight.
Kiffin said Tuesday that both have had “up and down” springs, combining to make impressive plays but also have a few bad days.
Because of that inconsistency and the injury issues that have plagued the receivers, tight ends and running backs, Kiffin said it’s unlikely that he’ll make a decision about naming a starting quarterback before the start of preseason practices in August.
“If we haven’t decided after the spring game, you don’t really have any information until fall camp,” Kiffin said. “So you can say this will go into fall camp.”
Kiffin said he’s more mature than he was when he was a younger coach and that’s given him the perspective to know bad performances aren’t always a quarterback’s fault. The persistent injury issues at receiver have made it hard for Dart and Altmyer to find open targets and have forced both players to try throws they otherwise wouldn’t need to as a way of pushing the ball downfield.
Still, Kiffin said he wants both of his passers to be a little more controlled and consistent.
“It seems like they’re both kind of never on,” Kiffin said. “One will have a good day, the other will turn it over and then it’ll switch the other day. It’s a good competition. We’re doing some new things on offense with the guys. Both guys really don’t have a ton of playing time. Jaxson’s had more but it wasn’t with us. So there’s not a lot of carryover there.”