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...
Ole Miss Reels As Two Student Deaths Leave Alarming Questions Unanswered
A somber weekend on the Ole Miss campus has left the university community searching for answers after officials confirmed the deaths of two male students, ages 18 and 20. Law enforcement is handling the cases as two separate investigations, and university leaders have been careful to say very little beyond urging restraint as the facts are still coming in.
Investigators recovered packaged kratom at both scenes, but have not said whether it played any role in either death. With autopsy and toxicology results still pending, the uncertainty has only fed a wave of social media speculation, leaving the school and its students waiting for official findings before drawing conclusions. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Gets A Timely Defensive Boost Before A Charged Road Test
Sharif Denson was back in the mix for Ole Miss in the win over LSU, and the timing mattered. After working his way back from injury, the former Florida defensive back turned in nine tackles and gave the Rebels a steadier presence in the secondary, the kind of return that can settle a defense heading into a difficult stretch.
Denson said the extra week of rest was important, and he also made clear he sees his role as bigger than just getting back on the field. He has leaned into a leadership role in the secondary, and now Ole Miss gets one more layer to this weeks buildup as he prepares to face his old team in the next game. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Just Put Its LSU Win On A Much Bigger Stage
Ole Miss 32-24 win over LSU carried far beyond the box score, turning into the most-watched game of the week on ABC with an average of 10.9 million viewers. In a slate that also featured Alabama-Florida State, Kentucky-Texas A&M, Georgia-Arkansas and Clemson-North Carolina, it was the Rebels and Tigers who ended up drawing the biggest audience, a reminder that some September matchups land with the feel of a national event.
The Alabama-Florida State game still pulled seven million viewers after a weather delay sent it to ESPN2, but Ole Miss-LSU stood alone at the top of the weekends TV rankings. For a Rebels program trying to keep building momentum, that kind of stage matters almost as much as the result itself, because wins like this can travel well beyond the SEC West and into the broader conversation about the season. [Read more 🡒]