Revenge was a dish served with crustless pimento cheese sandwiches and chicken tenders on Saturday night in Oxford, Mississippi.
The most anticipated college football game of the season thus far, between LSU and Ole Miss, lived up to its billing. Depending on which team you were rooting for, the heroes and villains are up for debate, but the drama was palpable both pregame and throughout Lane Kiffin’s first trip back to Ole Miss and Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
The Ole Miss fans were more cordial during the weekend than I was expected, practically killing my friends and I with kindness to possibly buy some karmic goodwill for the gridiron contest. It worked. The Rebels topped the Tigers in a classic, thrilling Southeastern Conference battle, sealing a 32-24 win by intercepting LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt in the end zone during the final minute of play.
The animosity for Kiffin in Oxford was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. From consistent profanity laced chants to signs in every tent in the Grove to buttons donned by sorority girls, vitriol was being hurled at LSU’s current head coach from every direction. I was on LSU’s campus for Nick Saban’s first game back in Baton Rouge as the head coach of Alabama. Saturday’s environment in Oxford topped that 2008 experience.
The loathing for Kiffin even extended beyond Rebel fans. I ran into a dozen Tennessee fans, donning orange, who drove down to Oxford specifically to hate watch Kiffin, joining the Ole Miss faithful to root against him. Kiffin coached Tennessee for one season in 2009 before leaving to become the head coach of Southern California. Those Volunteer fans told me they hate Kiffin so much they wanted to watch him lose in person twice this season. LSU plays at Tennessee in late November.
Ole Miss manhandled LSU the entire first half, largely by wreaking havoc on the Tigers’ offensive line. The LSU offense struggled to find any consistent rhythm in the first two quarters, trailing 24-7 at halftime.
The Tigers looked lost, overwhelmed, and not ready for the bright lights of SEC football. Whether it was the emotion of the moment or the lack of experience playing in hostile SEC road game environments, some of the lackluster play could be expected in hindsight.
Kiffin and the Tigers, however, did not go quietly into the Oxford night. The Tigers rallied back in the second half, eventually tying the game 24-24 in the fourth quarter, as the Ole Miss fans in the stadium became more tense with each passing series. There was an air of inevitability during the second half, as LSU fans hoped, and Ole Miss fans feared, the Tigers would complete the comeback. Then the pendulum of fortune swung back in the Rebels’ favor.
In a Heisman Trophy moment performance, Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss led the Rebels down the field, capping the drive with a 14-yard touchdown run. Chambliss was sensational all night, completing 33 passes for 363 yards and three touchdowns. Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding then out-Kiffined Lane Kiffin by converting the two-point conversion, putting the Rebels up eight points.
The Tigers fell short of the comeback, as the Ole Miss defense intercepted Leavitt in the end zone in the final minute of the game.
The interception triggered one of the largest cathartic releases I’ve witnessed, as the collective souls of the entire Ole Miss fanbase were liberated by defeating Kiffin. The Rebel fans cheered, hugged, howled, and stayed in the stadium for half an hour after the final second ticked off the clock, soaking in the most satisfying Rebel victory in most of their lifetimes. That’s why it just means more.
My favorite play of the game
Quarterback Sam Leavitt’s third-quarter touchdown pass to wide receiver Winner Watkins was an absolute dime and pulled the Tigers within three points of the Rebels. Leavitt has been rightfully criticized for his passing game deficiencies so far this season, but that throw flashed his arm talent.
By the numbers
16 – Completed passes by LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt.
33 – Completed passes by Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss.
363 – Passing yards by Chambliss.
852 – Number of times I heard “Are You Ready?” yelled out by an Ole Miss fan, followed by the subsequent “HYDR” chant.
13 – The number of corndogs I was offered while tailgating in the Grove.
3 – The number of corndogs I consumed while tailgating in the Grove.
Looking ahead
LSU returns to Tiger Stadium to battle No. 23 Texas A&M, as both teams try to regroup from losses last Saturday. The Aggies were pummeled by unranked Kentucky 31-21 at home.
The Aggies ended the Brian Kelly era at LSU last season, thrashing the Tigers 49-25 in Death Valley. Next Saturday is a de facto playoff game in some respects, with either the Tigers or Aggies suffering a second loss before October. Next week’s winner rights their season, while the loser must likely be perfect the final eight games of the year to have a shot at making the College Football Playoff.