By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
STARKVILLE, Mississippi – The worst possible scenario for LSU fans happened Friday in Starkville, Mississippi.
Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin won a huge game in dominant fashion over hated rival Mississippi State, 38-19, on the road that will give the No. 7 Rebels (11-1, 7-1 Southeastern Conference) an unprecedented home College Football Playoff Game on Dec. 19 or 20.
LSU still leading Ole Miss in the “Lane Kiffin Bowl,” but it may not be over. And Florida has been eliminated. … Live From Starkville:https://t.co/tUQE9kjWy0
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) November 28, 2025
With a win there, Ole Miss – with or without Kiffin – would be two wins away from its first national championship game.
And since he has been told he cannot have his playoffs that he earned – in other words his cake – and eat it, too, by going to LSU later, he will have to leave all that Ole Miss did Friday on the table, should he take the LSU job. LSU still has a great chance of getting him, but chances could be better. And this is going to come down to the wire.
He did say he will decide on Saturday.
“I feel like I got to,” he said.
Thank goodness, so the rest of us can get on with our lives.
“I think it’s difficult no matter what,” Kiffin said when asked if the significance of the milestone victory and playoff season for Ole Miss, which also won an 11th game for the first time in history in a regular season, make that decision more difficult.
“It’s all happening,” as Kate Hudson’s Penny Lane said in the “Almost Famous” classic about rock stars … like Lane Kiffin.https://t.co/KajxywPVmM
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) November 26, 2025
“But there is a relief that we played like I thought we would,” he said. “But I didn’t think they would play like this.”
Meaning how well Ole Miss played with zero negative plays, 545 total yards – 359 passing and 186 rushing. In other words, no distractions whatsoever. That was the fear of Ole Miss people and the naysayers going after Kiffin for trying to pause and think about his future, which most Americans get to do with no drama.
“I am relieved for that,” he said. “Because if we didn’t play well today, we’d all know what the story line would be. It would be my fault. I’m distracted and stuff. So I’m really glad that we proved them wrong.”
But had Ole Miss lost on Friday, the decision would be much easier on Kiffin, who likely would have been booed after such a loss by the 15,000 Ole Miss fans who made the two-hour drive. His interest in LSU would have caused the distracted loss. Instead, it looked for a moment that all had been forgiven on a perfect Friday afternoon as Kiffin’s courtship first by Florida, then LSU has gone on for more than a month now.
Instead, there was Kiffin posing for pictures on the field with his players, with cheerleaders, with fans. He stopped for a moment, too, just to admire the scene as his players carried the Golden Egg trophy around the field with a sea of blue in the stadium and empty seats from the departed home fans. He was gathering it all in.
That could be good for LSU, though, because Drew Brees did the same thing in his last game as a Saint. Then he left via retirement. Was Kiffin saying goodbye as he gazed around?
Or was he thinking, “Why am I leaving all this? Am I nuts?”
National championships are rare, and he could win one this January. LSU hasn’t come close to the playoffs over the last six seasons.
“Just over the years, you know, just really cool,” he said when asked about his pause at midfield soaking it all in.
“Third time emptying out their stadium,” he said after going 3-for-3 at Starkville, which he pronounces “Starksville.” Ole Miss fans love that, and on this day they loved Lane again.
“Watching Jaxson Dart (in 2023), watching Trinidad Chambliss (Ole Miss’ current QB) carry that trophy around,” he said. “Just so much joy to see them do something like that. Watching guys come together from everywhere. Think about that. They came from all over the place to come together and do this, to win, to bring joy to all the fans and the city of Oxford.”
And you’re leaving?
He opened the press conference with, “What an awesome day.”
Toward the end, he was getting emotional as he said he wished his father, Monte Kiffin, was still around, so he could ask him for advice about his next move.
Have The Adventures of Kiffin’s Travels – Monte and Lane – convinced Lane to pack and go again? To LSU?https://t.co/Q1RMlsmkR0
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) November 25, 2025
Everything about Kiffin’s demeanor from beginning to end on Friday, his emotion and his words indicated that he clearly had not made up his mind. His agent, Jimmy Sexton, was saying he didn’t know as of Friday. And he knows everything.
“There’s a lot that goes into it,” Kiffin said. “It’s a hard decision.”
Kiffin said his first two calls late Friday or Saturday at some point would be to his two favorite mentors – next to his dad. That will be former Alabama coach Nick Saban, whom he was offensive coordinator for from 2014-16 with a national championship in 2015, and former USC coach Pete Carroll, whom he coached quarterbacks and coordinated offenses for on the way to national titles in 2003 and ’04.
“I miss my dad,” he said. “Wish dad was here.”
When asked about his time frame, he obviously hadn’t got near that, yet. He was going to see his son Knox play quarterback back home at Oxford High against Tupelo Friday night in a playoff game.
“Very fair question,” he said. “I don’t know. Maybe I should. I don’t. I know that may be crazy with all the attention on it, but tonight I’m happy for our players. And I’m going to go watch my son play.”
Doesn’t get much better than that.
Asked about coaching Ole Miss in the playoffs while also taking the LSU job, he said, “That’s not my call.”
Everything else is, though.
And a college football crazed world will wait for his decision on Saturday. There are many good games on the schedule, but none bigger or more dramatic than Lane’s Play Call.
“I have a lot of praying to do,” he said.
So, too, do LSU and Ole Miss.
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