By KACE KIESCHNICK, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
There was bedlam in Oxford, Mississippi,following the No. 8 Rebels’ 32-24 win over No. 7 LSU and former Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin. It was an emotional night for many fans given the opportunity to exorcise any Kiffin-sized demons that remained from his departure from Ole Miss for a job at LSU at the end of last season.
Rebels coach Pete Golding, though, was not one of the thousands overwhelmed by the moment. In his postgame press conference, he calmly took the podium and expressed his pride in his players, coaches, front office and community for how they worked for the win and handled it with class.
He said it was not the Rebels’ Super Bowl and it never was supposed to be. Their goals reside in January, not September. But it was a statement win nonetheless, and one that neither Oxford nor Baton Rouge, Mississippi, Louisiana and much of the nation will soon forget.
“I think it was a full circle moment for a lot of people. No player, no person’s bigger than anybody else, and this place has been built the right way with really good people,” Golding said. “And the trajectory is up, and that’s where it’s going to continue to go.”
Golding would not comment on Kiffin’s decision to leave Oxford at the threshold of a College Football Playoff run, nor did he have anything to say about Kiffin’s perception that LSU gave him a better chance of winning than Ole Miss did.
He arrived in Oxford in 2023, hired by Kiffin to be the Rebels’ defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach. Golding served the five prior seasons in the same role at Alabama under head coach Nick Saban. He helped the Crimson Tide to a 62-7 record, three trips to the national championship and one national title.
As a Rebel, he is now 5-1 as head coach, with all but one of those wins coming against an Associated Press top 25 opponent, and 36-7 as a member of the Ole Miss coaching staff. Most of those wins, of course, came with Kiffin at the helm. Kiffin led the Rebels to a 55-19 record and four seasons of 10 or more wins in his six years as head coach. Golding said that has become the standard for Ole Miss.
“Since ‘23, you feel like it’s a failure if you’re not winning 10 games,” he said, indirectly praising Kiffin. ”I remember when I first was making the move over here was the year after they lost five. I was like, ‘Man, if we can go over there and average 10 a year, they’ll build statues of everybody.’ And then after year two, it’s like, ‘Man, if we don’t go to the Natty, it’s a bust.’ I’m like, ‘It feels like Tuscaloosa again.’ And that’s how it should be because that’s what they’ve invested into this place.”
But Golding’s focus leading up to the showdown with the head coach that brought him to Oxford was not on the perception of his program or the drama of his opponent. It was on the field. He said he and his players worked extremely hard, and they saw the fruits of their labor early and often versus the Tigers.
Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss was electric in the first half, leading the Rebels to a 24-7 lead at the break. Golding’s defense suffocated the Tigers and quarterback Sam Leavitt. Powder blue jerseys were found in the backfield at almost the same rate as white and gold ones as LSU was forced to punt on its first three possessions. A single 75-yard touchdown drive accounted for all of the Tigers’ points and most of their 117 first half yards.
Golding said one group that he was particularly pleased with was the secondary. He said he put a lot of responsibility on them to make checks and react to LSU offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr.’s unit. The Rebels’ defensive backfield struggled with communication and tackling to start the season, but they gave up just 158 passing yards to Leavitt after allowing 486 in their first two games.
“Wasn’t always perfect, knew it wasn’t going to be perfect going in, but they’ve taken a beating lately, and they’ve been really really coachable,” Golding said. “They made some plays when they had to. Wasn’t perfect. I wasn’t perfect either. So, we’ll look at the tape, but really excited for them tonight to get that win. That’s a big one for us.”
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