OXFORD, Mississippi -- For one night at least, the football gods believed karma was real. After 10 months of drama and hurt feelings, Ole Miss won the breakup on Saturday night. Ole Miss 32, Lane Kiffin's LSU Tigers 24.
There was an unprecedented level of buildup to Lane Kiffin's return to Oxford for the first time since leaving the program for LSU. On a blisteringly hot day, it was all anyone could talk about in the school's famous Grove tailgating scene. Everywhere you looked, there were signs and pins with funny, sometimes crude, messages about the man they once worshipped, only to become their biggest villain.
It wasn't simply that he left, but how he left. Kiffin left a College Football Playoff-bound Ole Miss team because, ultimately, he didn't believe he could win a national championship in Oxford. Ole Miss fans couldn't believe he'd ditch a playoff team; Kiffin couldn't believe the school wouldn't let him keep coaching the team after taking the LSU job.
It left both sides feeling aggrieved, even if Kiffin was the one who departed. Those feelings only intensified as Kiffin tried to strip his former program for parts as it was preparing for a national semifinal game against Miami. The greener pastures of LSU, a place that Nick Saban, Les Miles and Ed Orgeron all hoisted national titles at, proved too irresistible for Kiffin.
It was the kind of job he didn't know if he'd ever get another shot at after he was fired from USC. There was something about coaching a blue-blood program that was just different for him. Lane couldn't see Ole Miss for what he was helping it become; he could only fixate on what it had been.
On Saturday night, with a record crowd inside Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Lane's former program was the better team. The star power of Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss overwhelmed all the advantages that lured Lane away from Oxford, including what some believe is the most expensive roster in college football. Chambliss finished with 363 passing yards, three passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown.
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