Lane Kiffin isn’t letting Ole Miss have the last word just yet.
Three days after LSU’s 32-24 loss in Oxford, Kiffin took another swipe at his former program during Wednesday’s SEC Football Coaches Teleconference, calling the Rebels’ win over the Tigers their “Super Bowl.” The comment added one more layer to a Week 3 matchup that already had plenty of noise around it before kickoff.
Kiffin framed the loss through the lens of the opponent and the atmosphere, suggesting the reaction would look different if LSU had been playing a more conventional foe. He also pointed to how close the Tigers were to flipping the result late.
“If it wasn’t for the name, Ole Miss, and if it was more of a traditional name that we were playing, we hadn’t coached at before, how would everybody be feeling if, in your third game of your first year of a program, you went to Ohio State and came all the way back?” Kiffin said, per On3.
“The quarterback didn’t play very - ours (Sam Leavitt) didn’t play very well, and theirs played lights out. I’m sure after three games, he would be named the Heisman winner.
“So, I think when you look at it that way and say, OK, man, their Super Bowl, then all the stuff around it, all the energy in the stadium, everything, and we’re right there at the end with multiple chances to win the game. We got to learn from that and finish when we’re in that type of situation again.”
Ole Miss coach Pete Golding, for his part, had no interest in revisiting the emotion of the game. On the same teleconference, he made it clear the Rebels were already looking ahead and not treating the LSU matchup like a season-defining event.
“I think a big part of that starts at what are your goals for the year and everything else?” Golding said, per On3.
“I know everybody else had that [LSU] game circled. I mean there’s nothing about winning a game in September that makes your season, so I think our focus is prepare really hard week in and week out.
What’s that look like at the end of the year?”
In Other News...
LSU's Offense Just Raised A Bigger Sam Leavitt Concern
LSUs offense took a needed step forward on the ground against Ole Miss, piling up 172 rushing yards and getting a strong day from Dilin Jones, who ran for 106 of them. Even with that improvement, the passing game still left plenty to sort through, and the overall balance of the offense did not fully erase the concerns that have hovered around Sam Leavitt since the start of the stretch.
Leavitt finished 16 of 27 for 158 yards with a touchdown and an interception, while adding 63 rushing yards and another score on the ground. Lane Kiffin pointed to missed chances through the air, said some of the issues were tied to Leavitt missing practice, and stressed that the offense has to protect better and execute cleaner moving forward, which makes the next step for the passing game an important one for LSU. [Read more 🡒]
Lane Kiffin Turns LSU Loss Into Bigger SEC Scheduling Frustration
Lane Kiffin spent part of his first SEC teleconference back in the LSU spotlight talking less about the loss itself and more about the setting around it. After Ole Miss beat LSU in Oxford in Week 3, Kiffin pointed to the fact that the game was played there for the second straight year, framing it as more than just an inconvenience for the Tigers and more like a scheduling issue with real competitive weight.
For LSU, the complaint lands in a familiar place because Oxford has long been one of the leagues tougher road environments, and Kiffin noted the home-field edge and crowd noise as factors that hurt his team. The bigger frustration now is not just what happened in the game, but how the setup kept LSU in the same uncomfortable spot twice in a row, leaving the scheduling conversation hanging over an otherwise straightforward result. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Gets A Telling Warning From Mike Elko Before SEC Showdown
With LSU heading into another SEC test, Texas A&M coach Mike Elko offered a useful scouting lens on what his defense expects to see when the Tigers line up across from them. Elko pointed to LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt as a competitive, physical presence, the kind of player who can shape a game by staying tough through contact and keeping plays alive.
Elko also touched on how little direct exposure he has had to Lane Kiffins offense, even while making clear he respects what Kiffin has built over the years. For LSU, that combination matters because it frames this matchup as more than a simple talent check. It is also a chess match against a coach who likes what he sees from the Tigers quarterback and knows enough about Kiffin to understand how much discipline this game could demand. [Read more 🡒]