OXFORD, Miss. â Ole Miss fans have been waiting for this game since Lane Kiffin left town 10 months ago for LSU, so one more day won’t hurt. But that doesnt mean the animosity toward their former head coach in Oxford has to simmer down before kickoff.
It took me around five minutes of traversing campus to start hearing the banter about the guy who used to roam the Rebels’ sidelines for six years.
As he makes his way back to Oxford on Saturday afternoon to lead his Tigers into hostile territory, it’s pretty obvious that a large percentage of the fan base still holds a grudge for the way in which Lane Kiffin bolted town after Thanksgiving last year, and just two weeks before the College Football Playoff was set to begin.
“Man, I’m not gonna lie. F— Lane Kiffin. Lane Kiffin’s ‘K’, we smokin him bro, no cap,” one Ole Miss student said inside “The Grove” on Friday afternoon.
He wasnt alone in his thoughts, as you could imagine around the Ole Miss campus.
“Man, he’s dust,” another Ole Miss student exclaimed. “He’s nothing but dust. He’s defiantly scheming, he knows what he’s doing, whether that’s putting Leavitt on the injury report, he’s f—ing playing. He’s just a scumbag.”
On a beautiful, but hot, Friday afternoon in Oxford, fans flooded the historic Square located in the middle of downtown Oxford for some good eats and drinking.
The party atmosphere started on Wednesday night, and I don’t imagine this thing comes to an end until sometime Sunday afternoon. No matter what takes place on the field inside Vaught Hemingway Stadium on Saturday evening, LSU head coach Lane Kiffin will be at the forefront of a hostile environment.
At this point, fans were expecting nothing less.
Months of talking through social media, Vanity Fair, podcasts and interviews, Lane Kiffin is clearly enjoying the attention that he’s garnering before this showdown with his former team.
And, if any one thinks different, you don’t know Kiffin. Think of it as a professional wrestler drawing boos from a crowded arena. Now, think of Lane playing the role of Hulk Hogan’s NWO persona.
Everything is a show, and Kiffin is selling advertisement for his return to Oxford.
Think about what took place earlier this week when the LSU head coach put Sam Leavitt on the initial injury report, listing him as ‘doubtful’, before upgrading him to ‘questionable’ on Thursday evening.
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Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding wasnt buying it, not for one minute.
“Well, I got the text before the report went o
