Updated

Updated · Fox News · Sep 20

Lane Kiffin Jabs Ole Miss Fans After 32-24 LSU Loss in 70,033-Strong Oxford Return

Updated

Updated · Fox News · Sep 20

Lane Kiffin Jabs Ole Miss Fans After 32-24 LSU Loss in 70,033-Strong Oxford Return

Q: How did a legal battle over a Division II transfer ultimately cost Lane Kiffin his highly anticipated return to Oxford?

Lane Kiffin’s return to Oxford was undercut by a player he had a hand in keeping on the field: Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss. The chain of events began with Chambliss’ eligibility fight. After the NCAA denied a waiver that would have given the former Division II Ferris State transfer a sixth season, Kiffin — newly hired at LSU — contacted attorney Tom Mars in December and helped connect him with Chambliss’ family and representatives. According to Mars, Kiffin wanted Chambliss eligible and initially hoped to bring him to LSU. That legal effort did not end with the NCAA waiver process. Mars and local counsel took the case to Mississippi state court, where a judge ultimately barred the NCAA from enforcing its ruling, giving Chambliss another year at Ole Miss. Instead of following Kiffin to Baton Rouge, Chambliss stayed in Oxford. That decision became decisive Saturday night. In Kiffin’s first game back at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Chambliss threw for 363 yards and two touchdowns, then scored the go-ahead rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter of Ole Miss’ 32-24 win. LSU’s final drive ended with an interception in the end zone. So the legal battle over a Division II transfer cost Kiffin in the most direct way possible: his behind-the-scenes role in reviving Chambliss’ career helped keep the quarterback at Ole Miss, where he then led the Rebels to the win that spoiled Kiffin’s highly anticipated return.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 20

32-24 was the final as LSU fell at Ole Miss in Lane Kiffin’s return to Oxford, after he said the Rebels’ crowd was full early because “I had to leave to get them to do that.”
70,033 fans set a Vaught-Hemingway Stadium attendance record for the Week 3 top-10 matchup, which Kiffin called emotional and described as walking into a “buzzsaw.”
Ole Miss built a 24-7 first-half lead before LSU tied it with 17 straight points, but quarterback Trinidad Chambliss put the Rebels back ahead with just over six minutes left.
Sam Leavitt’s end-zone interception with about a minute remaining sealed the result, giving Ole Miss revenge against the coach who left before last season’s College Football Playoff.