Lane Kiffin came back to Oxford as the villain, left with an L, and still couldn’t resist a parting shot. Classic Kiffin energy, buttercups.
No. 7 LSU fell 32-24 to Ole Miss at Vaught-Hemingway on Saturday night in Kiffin’s first return since he bolted the Rebels for the Tigers right before Ole Miss’s College Football Playoff run. The place was a storm — early “F Lane Kiffin” energy on College GameDay, boos on arrival, a reported record crowd north of 70,000, and a goal-line interception to seal the revenge win for Pete Golding’s Rebels.
LSU dug a hole (touchdowns on three straight Ole Miss possessions to end the half; 24-7 deficit), clawed back to tie early in the fourth, then watched Trinidad Chambliss and company finish the job. Heavy security rushed Kiffin off after a quick hug with Golding while the stands soaked in it.
Postgame, Kiffin credited the buzz… then took credit for it.
“The stadium was full an hour early,” he said. “So, I guess I had to leave to get them to do that. You’re welcome.”
He also got real about the emotions — gratitude for six years in Oxford, life bigger than football, first time walking into a game like this without his dad — and said he’d been thinking all week he’d be glad when it was over, win or lose. The petty bar still landed louder than the soft stuff, because of course it did.
Next up: LSU hosts Texas A&M; Ole Miss hits the road for Florida. The scoreboard says Rebels. The quote of the night still belongs to the guy in purple.
