After LSU QB Sam Leavitt’s final pass bounced off Ole Miss defender Kam Franklin’s helmet and into the hands of defensive back Jaylon Braxton in the end zone, Tigers coach Lane Kiffin fell to his knees.
Six years he spent with the Rebels, and they still managed to take him down badly when he returned to his former home.
“I know that sometimes I don’t act like it, but I’m a human too, you know,” Kiffin said, getting emotional post-loss.
Kiffin knew that, ever since the schedule dropped, the win was much more personal for the Rebels. More than a win, it was revenge for them after he ditched them right before their first-ever Playoff run.
The frustration towards Kiffin was evident from the home crowd and the way Ole Miss players took every snap and caught every pass.
Lane Kiffin Gets Emotional After Visit to Ole Miss Ends in Loss
At the end of it all, Kiffin was just happy and looked relieved that it was all over.
“I’m sure I’ll be criticized for saying that, but, yeah, I am,” Kiffin said in his post-game conference. “I was thinking that all week, especially today, and I would have said that in a win or a loss. You know, that was really emotional driving in on the buses for a lot of reasons. And I’m not saying this because I would have said this anyway since you asked. It was just really a lot of emotions of gratefulness for this place and for the six years. It went well beyond football.”
Lane Kiffin reflects on his time at Ole Miss 🤝
The LSU Tigers head coach also felt that the Rebels’ win over the Tigers might bring some sort of closure to the animosity between the two teams brewing since last year.
Kiffin was prepared for the crowd to go crazy, for them to hurl all sorts of insults and even objects at him. He was prepared for the heat, but there was one thing he underestimated: the way his emotions started getting the best of him.
Kiffin Didn’t Expect to be so Emotionally Overwhelmed
“Probably not what I would have thought,” Kiffin said of his return to Oxford.
“There’s a lot of stuff [in] six years here, and a lot of things and a lot of life-changing experiences and a lot of really good people that helped me through some really hard times,” Kiffin added. “I just thought I would probably be more in, like, the competitive mode and just kind of embrace it. I don’t know, sometimes you can’t predict your emotions.”
The Tigers tried closing the deficit all evening, but Trinidad Chambliss had other plans. The ball was in his hands throughout the game, and Chambliss took every snap, wanting to prove he was finally out of Kiffin’s shadow.
With 6:14 left on the clock, Chambliss capped off a 75-yard scoring drive with a 14-yard touchdown run. After the Tigers jumped offside twice, JT Lindsey ran into the end zone from a yard out on the ensuing 2-point conversion for an eight-point lead.
The Tigers reached Ole Miss’ 6-yard line in the final two minutes. Leavitt couldn’t hit tight end Zach Grace with a pass at the goal line on third down, setting up the dramatic finish for the Rebels’ defense.
LSU’s Lane Kiffin Shares Emotional Message After Crushing Loss To Ole Miss