A raucous weekend ends with Ole Miss getting sweet revenge on LSU and Lane Kiffin

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They crafted a poster that turned him into a corndog, a deadbeat on a stick if you will.

They printed T-shirts and made buttons that called him a “heaux,” hoe, or ho, depending on the preferred spelling. They cussed him for leaving but then insisted they were thrilled to see him go. They expended hours and oxygen and energy stewing in a gumbo of hate and enmity, crafting so much chaos and worry that the state’s Department of Public Safety decided to send its special ops team to a football game.

They gathered in stairways and ramps to boo him as he walked into Vaught-Hemingway Stadium and heckled him on the way out even more lustily. After a Coke bottle narrowly missed his shoulder and fell to the ground, the in-house disc jockey even got into the action, sending him to the locker room the trolling strains of Garth Brooks’ “Calling Baton Rouge,” and Cameo’s “Neck,” the so-called anthem for LSU football.

Yet in the end, as delirious Ole Miss fans finally spilled into the streets of Oxford and reignited their Grove tailgates on the heels of a 32-24 win over LSU on Saturday, they really ought to consider thanking Lane Kiffin. Raise a glass or pop some champagne in his honor. Maybe send him a gift card for a year’s worth of hot yoga classes.

Were it not for Kiffin working the legal levers by making a call to attorney Tom Mars, who found the loopholes and the laws to get Trinidad Chambliss eligible for one more year in college football, the Ole Miss quarterback would be on a team that plays on Sundays, not behind center in the steam of a September Saturday night in Mississippi.

Morgan Simmons/Getty Images

Lane Kiffin’s bitter divorce with Ole Miss reopened old wounds

Whether Kiffin’s intentions were noble or nefarious, whether he was doing a solid for a kid he plucked from the anonymity of Ferris State or trying to lure a superstar to Baton Route, no longer matters.

It only matters that No. 6 still puts on an Ole Miss uniform. Chambliss’ dazzling display of quarterbacking, a 33 for 48, 363-yard evening that ended with a scamper into the end zone and a bit of line of scrimmage gamesmanship for a sealing 2-point conversion, exorcised Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin demon once and for all.

“Hotty F–king Toddy,” Chambliss shouted on national television moments after taking a knee in what he called the best play in all of football – victory formation.

Chambliss’ out-of-character explanation revealed the truth. When it was over, when no one had to pretend it was just another game, they all came clean.

Chambliss, after apologizing for his salty language, admitted that “yeah, this one meant a lot more than the other games. The coaches that were here, now at LSU, and some of the players, too, there was a little more to it. I wanted this one really bad, and our team did, too.”

And Kiffin admitted none of this had been fun, and he was glad it was over.

“I’ll probably get criticized for saying this, but yeah I am,” he said.

It was hard. Not being the butt of jokes so much. That much he was ready for. Besides Kiffin can give as much as he can take. When the fans booed him walking into the stadium, he actually waved at them.

But as the team bus rolled into town from Memphis, the emotions hit him hard, unexpectedly so. He figured he’d be fired up, ready to combat the fans’ anger with his own competitive fury. Instead, he found himself a little bit overcome. He thought about the six years he spent here, the work he did and the place that embraced him when he was in real need of a hug – and felt an unexpected pit.

To be clear, the folks on the other side did not feel quite the same. Oxford and Ole Miss rolled out the unwelcome mat early in the week, starting Wednesday with a Lane Kiffen (incorrect spelling intentional) Roast at the Lyric Theater.

“Lane Kiffin and LSU are a match made in the deepest parts of heaven,” said Walt Karr, a Mississippi stand-up comedian. “A narcissistic vagabond seemingly destroying every relationship that he’s ever had, and a fanbase that would understand about three words of that description.”

Jonathan Mailhes/Cal Sport Media/AP

The Lane Kiffin saga: Who exactly is to blame for the sordid mess at Ole Miss and LSU?

By Friday afternoon, town was packed. Weaving through the crowds on the Oxford Square, Jennifer Simmons turned around and laughed as a visitor lamented on a phone call, “This is not my first rodeo. I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Traffic on Lamar Avenue, the main thoroughfare into town, backed up for blocks and an attempt to use a parking garage was a laughable enterprise in complete futility. By 2:15 p.m. Central time, The Library Sports Bar, the popular undergrad watering hole in town, was charging $100 cover – cash only – and people waited in line to get in, anyway.

This has always been a heated game, the rivalry burning hot long before Kiffin scorched the Earth on his way out the door.

“We’re psycho,” says Simmons, a 1997 graduate of Ole Miss, by way of explanation. “But LSU is more psycho.”

But Kiffin’s departure turned this into more than a game. It became a spectacle, an event to attend even if you weren’t planning to attend the actual event. Town officials planned on some 300,000 people in town despite a stadium that seats 64,000.

The Mississippi Department of Public Safety issued a statement on its gameday plans, including not just road closure alerts but a notice that special operations, air operations and a mobile command center would be set up. School officials erected metal fencing around the LSU team bus entrance at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium and announced that anyone wearing LSU gear in the Ole Miss student section would be removed from the game.

“Are You Ready?” screamed the Daily Mississippian front-page headline, copying the question posed to get the masses rolling on their “hotty toddy” chant.

The answer, as it is responded in the chant, was “hell yeah.”

A handmade blue-and-red, spray-painted sign on Route 6 practically welcomed visitors into Lafayette County. “Beat Loser State University,” it declared, setting the tone for a weekend’s worth of vitriol, most of it directed at Kiffin more than the Tigers.

The secondary headline on that student newspaper front page reads, “The Ole Miss Rebels Seek to Silence the Agent of Chaos,” and a clever wordsmith crafted a play on Carly Simon’s lyrics onto the Sonic Drive Thru billboard. “Ur so Lame. I bet you think this game is about u.”

Reaching back to now kindred spirits at Tennessee, who hurled mustard bottles and golf balls at Kiffin when he returned to Knoxville with Ole Miss, a home near the Grove decorated its front porch with a flag of a yellow mustard bottle, the label reading, “Lame.’ The flag hung a few feet from a statue of the Virgin Mary.

Those, however, ranked as the rare G-rated digs. Folks here especially glommed on to calling Kiffin a hoe/heaux/ho, in deference to reporter Ben Garrett who declared on a podcast that you “can’t turn a hoe into a housewife” – a reference to a Ludacris song – amid Kiffin’s dithering on whether to leave for Baton Rouge.

Banners unfurled at off-campus houses ranged from the profane to the obscene. “Eenie, meenie, money moe. Catch a tiger by the toe. Lane is still a heaux,” is about the only one suitable for print.

By Saturday, Kiffin effigies were everywhere in a Grove packed to overflowing. A poster of Kiffin’s face plastered atop a corndog – for some reason, people decided years ago that LSU fans smelled like the tailgating delicacy – greeted visitors to a Grove tailgate, and his face was also at the center of a wheel, which invited guests to spin to see where he might wind up in 2027. The options include hot yoga, a sorority house, fired or banned by the SEC.

Still, despite the level of dislike, the only temperature rising in town was the one on the mercury. Either properly discouraged by the police presence or too damned hot to fight, people largely behaved. LSU fans meandered through the Grove, the famous tailgating hotspot on campus, largely unbothered.

“You can hate Lane Kiffin, but don’t hate on me,” one LSU fan said. “I didn’t do anything.”

The real savior, though, was the football.

It felt near impossible that the game itself could deliver enough drama to match the lead up. Instead, it somehow trumped it.

Ole Miss built a 24-7 lead at halftime, sending the crowd into near fits of euphoria. But early in the third, Chambliss made the only real mistake of his near masterpiece. Throwing into traffic, he was picked off by Ja’Keem Jackson, giving LSU the ball at Ole Miss’ 33-yard line. Six plays later, the Tigers found the end zone, starting a boulder downhill roll directed by quarterback Sam Leavitt.

Listed as doubtful early in the week, Leavitt was quickly elevated to questionable, prompting the Mississippi state auditor to quip on X , “If Sam leavitt mysteriously goes from doubtful to playing on Saturday I will audit the whole state of Louisiana.”

He might want to file the paperwork.

Not only did Leavitt play, he absorbed hit after hit, at one point literally flipping feet over head into the end zone for a touchdown.

Frazzled early and forced to scamper, Leavitt learned to turn his legs into weapons, he rushed for 63 yards and threw for 158 more, and when the Tigers tied the game early in the fourth, the once deafening stadium sounded like a library – and not the sports bar version.

But there came Chambliss, answering the bell with a 13-play drive capped off by his 14-yard run to the far corner of the end zone. Up six, Pete Golding kept the offense on the field for a 2-point conversion. In the stands, fans murmured beneath their breath, wondering what new math the Kiffin’s successor could be pondering.

How life at a small football powerhouse shaped Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss into a star on the biggest stage

And then Chambliss drew the Tigers offsides not once but twice, the quarterback grinning a Cheshire grin after the second, as if LSU had fallen into his trap.

Which the Tigers did.

“Yeah, we’ve been practicing that all week,” he said.

Needing mere inches, the Rebels converted easily, sending the fans into back into delirium as Abba’s “Dancing Queen” screeched through the speakers.

But Leavitt answered, driving the Tigers all the way to the Ole Miss seven. On fourth and ballgame, Jaylon Braxton picked off Leavitt to seal the victory.

Braxton sprinted clear across the field, followed by his entire defense. They danced behind the benches as the noise level reached a painful point, fans singing and screaming long after Chambliss’ final knee.

As the public address announcer reminded fans they would be fined if they rushed the field, a highway patrolman on the field given the unenviable job of stopping the onslaught chuckled. As if, he seemed to say.

Except Ole Miss fans didn’t rush the field. Maybe because they feared the fines.

Or more likely, because they didn’t want to give Kiffin the satisfaction.

“You know, a lot of people disrespect Ole Miss,” Chambliss said. “You heard all week. LSU has more money, better facilities and Kiffin on their side.”

Justin Ford/Getty Images

他们制作了一张海报，把他变成了一根玉米热狗，一个挂在棍子上的游手好闲之徒。

他们印制了T恤，制作了徽章，上面用各种不同的拼写方式骂他是“heaux”、“hoe”或“ho”。他们咒骂他离开，却又坚称很高兴看到他走。他们耗费了数小时、耗费了氧气和精力，沉浸在仇恨和敌意的漩涡中，制造了如此多的混乱和恐慌，以至于州公共安全部门决定派特勤队去参加一场橄榄球比赛。

当他走进沃特-海明威体育场时，他们聚集在楼梯和坡道上对他发出嘘声，离开时更是变本加厉地嘲讽他。一个可乐瓶险些砸到他的肩膀，掉在地上后，就连现场的DJ也加入了嘲讽的行列，播放着加斯·布鲁克斯的《呼唤巴吞鲁日》和卡梅奥乐队的《脖子》（路易斯安那州立大学橄榄球队的所谓“队歌”），一路嘲讽着他回到更衣室。

然而，最终，当欣喜若狂的密西西比大学球迷们在周六以32比24战胜路易斯安那州立大学后涌上牛津街头，重新点燃了他们在格罗夫的赛前派对时，他们真的应该考虑感谢一下莱恩·基芬。举杯庆祝，或者开瓶香槟向他致敬。或许还可以送他一张价值一年的热瑜伽课程礼品卡。

如果不是基芬通过法律手段联系律师汤姆·马尔斯，找到法律漏洞和相关规定，使特立尼达·钱布利斯有资格再参加一年的大学橄榄球比赛，那么这位奥莱米斯大学的四分卫现在应该在周日比赛的球队中，而不是在密西西比州九月的一个周六晚上，在球场上站在中锋位置上。

Morgan Simmons/Getty Images

莱恩·基芬与密西西比大学的痛苦决裂，再次揭开了旧伤疤。

基芬的意图是高尚的还是邪恶的，他是在帮助一个从费里斯州立大学默默无闻中挖掘出来的孩子，还是试图把一个超级巨星吸引到巴吞鲁日，这些都不重要了。

重要的是，6号球员依然身披密西西比大学的战袍。钱布利斯当晚展现了令人眼花缭乱的四分卫风采，48次传球33次成功，推进363码，最后以一次冲入达阵区和一次精彩的边线技巧完成两分转换锁定胜局，彻底驱散了密西西比大学主教练莱恩·基芬留下的阴影。

“Hotty F–king Toddy！”钱布利斯在全国电视台上喊道，就在他单膝跪地，摆出他所谓的橄榄球比赛中最精彩的姿势——胜利阵型之后。

钱布利斯反常的解释揭露了真相。当一切结束，当所有人都不必再假装这只是一场游戏时，他们都坦白了一切。

钱布利斯在为自己的粗俗言辞道歉后承认：“是的，这场比赛比其他比赛意义重大得多。当时在这里的教练，现在都在路易斯安那州立大学，还有一些球员，这场比赛对我们来说意义非凡。我非常渴望赢得这场比赛，我们的球队也是如此。”

基芬承认这一切都不好玩，他很高兴这一切都结束了。

“我这么说可能会受到批评，但没错，我的确是，”他说。

这很难熬。不再经常被人嘲笑，这一点他倒是做好了心理准备。再说，基芬能承受多少，就能付出多少。当球迷们在他走进体育场时发出嘘声，他竟然还向他们挥手致意。

但当球队大巴从孟菲斯驶入小镇时，他的情绪却猝不及防地猛烈袭来。他原本以为自己会斗志昂扬，用自己的竞争激情去对抗球迷的怒火。然而，他却发现自己有些不知所措。他回想起在这里度过的六年，他所做的工作，以及在他最需要拥抱的时候给予他温暖的地方——一种莫名的低落感油然而生。

需要说明的是，对方的态度却截然不同。牛津大学和密西西比大学在本周初就对牛津大学发起了猛烈抨击，周三在抒情剧院举行了一场针对莱恩·基芬（故意拼写错误）的“吐槽大会”。

“莱恩·基芬和路易斯安那州立大学简直是天作之合，”来自密西西比州的单口喜剧演员沃尔特·卡尔说道。“一个自恋的浪荡子，似乎毁掉了他曾经拥有的每一段关系，而他的球迷们却能理解这种描述的大概三个字。”

乔纳森·梅尔赫斯/加州体育媒体/美联社

Lane Kiffin事件：究竟谁该为密西西比大学和路易斯安那州立大学的丑闻负责？

到了周五下午，小镇上人山人海。詹妮弗·西蒙斯穿梭在牛津广场的人群中，听到一位游客在电话里抱怨道：“这不是我第一次参加牛仔竞技表演，但我从来没见过这样的场面。”她转过身，忍不住笑了起来。

拉马尔大道是进城的主要干道，车流堵塞了好几个街区，试图使用停车场简直是徒劳无功，简直可笑。下午2点15分（中部时间），镇上颇受大学生欢迎的酒吧“图书馆体育酒吧”开始收取100美元的入场费——而且只收现金——即便如此，人们还是排起了长队。

这场比赛一直都很激烈，早在基芬离开时掀起轩然大波之前，双方的竞争就已经非常白热化了。

“我们都是疯子，”1997年毕业于密西西比大学的西蒙斯解释说，“但路易斯安那州立大学更疯。”

但基芬的离开让这场比赛不再仅仅是一场比赛，而是一场盛事，即使你原本不打算亲临现场，也会被吸引到场观看。尽管体育场只能容纳6.4万人，但当地政府官员预计会有大约30万人涌入小镇。

密西西比州公共安全部发布了一份关于比赛日安保计划的声明，其中不仅包括道路封闭警报，还包括将设立特勤队、空中行动队和移动指挥中心。学校官员在沃特-海明威体育场路易斯安那州立大学（LSU）球队大巴入口处架设了金属围栏，并宣布任何在密西西比大学（Ole Miss）学生区穿着LSU队服的人都将被请出比赛现场。

《每日密西西比人报》头版头条赫然写着：“你准备好了吗？”，这句话模仿了人们为了带动群众高喊“热托迪”口号而提出的问题。

答案正如歌声中所回应的那样：“当然！”

6号公路旁一块手工喷涂的蓝红相间标牌，仿佛在欢迎游客来到拉斐特县。“打败失败者州立大学！”标牌上赫然写着这句话，为接下来整个周末的谩骂定下了基调，而这些谩骂大多指向基芬，而非老虎队。

学生报纸头版的副标题是“密西西比大学叛逆者试图让混乱的化身噤声”，一位文笔巧妙的文字高手在Sonic Drive Thru的广告牌上巧妙地借用了卡莉·西蒙的歌词：“你太逊了。我敢打赌你以为这游戏是写你的。”

回想起当年在田纳西州与基芬结下友谊的人们，当基芬随密西西比大学回到诺克斯维尔时，他们曾向他投掷芥末瓶和高尔夫球。如今，格罗夫附近的一户人家在门廊上挂了一面黄色芥末瓶旗，标签上写着“跛脚”。这面旗帜悬挂在圣母玛利亚雕像几英尺远的地方。

然而，这些都算是少有的温和挖苦。尤其是在基芬犹豫不决是否要去巴吞鲁日的时候，当地民众特别热衷于称她为“妓女/荡妇/婊子”，这显然是在回应记者本·加勒特在播客节目中引用卢达克里斯的一首歌的言论——“你不可能把一个妓女变成一个家庭主妇”。

校外宿舍外悬挂的横幅内容五花八门，从粗俗不堪到淫秽不堪，应有尽有。“点兵点将，钱多多。抓住老虎的脚趾。莱恩依然是个婊子。”大概是唯一一条可以刊登出来的。

到了周六，在人满为患的格罗夫公园里，到处都是基芬的画像。一张基芬的脸被贴在玉米热狗上——不知为何，几年前人们就认定路易斯安那州立大学的球迷身上有这种赛前小吃的味道——迎接前来格罗夫公园参加赛前聚会的游客。他的脸还出现在一个转盘的中心，邀请游客转动转盘，看看他2027年的去向。选项包括：高温瑜伽、加入大学女生联谊会、被解雇或被东南联盟禁赛。

尽管人们彼此反感，但镇上唯一升温的只有气温。或许是警察的出现有效阻止了冲突，或许是热得实在不想打架，人们大多都安分守己。路易斯安那州立大学的球迷们悠闲地漫步在校园里著名的赛前聚会热点——格罗夫，基本没有受到任何干扰。

一位路易斯安那州立大学的球迷说：“你可以讨厌莱恩·基芬，但别讨厌我。我什么都没做。”

然而，真正的救星却是足球。

游戏本身似乎很难营造出与前期宣传相匹配的戏剧性效果。然而，它却出人意料地超越了前期宣传。

上半场结束时，密西西比大学以24比7领先，现场观众几乎陷入狂喜。但第三节开局不久，钱布利斯（Chambliss）在他近乎完美的表现中犯下了唯一真正的错误。他向人丛中传球，被杰基姆·杰克逊（Ja'Keem Jackson）拦截，路易斯安那州立大学（LSU）在密西西比大学的33码线处获得球权。六次进攻后，老虎队（LSU的昵称）达阵得分，在四分卫萨姆·利维特（Sam Leavitt）的指挥下，他们势如破竹，一路狂奔。

本周早些时候，利维特被列为出战成疑，但很快又被提升为出战存疑，这促使密西西比州审计员在 X 上打趣道：“如果萨姆·利维特神秘地从出战成疑变成周六上场比赛，我将对整个路易斯安那州进行审计。”

他可能需要提交这些文件。

利维特不仅上场比赛，还承受了一次又一次的撞击，甚至一度双脚翻过头顶进入端区达阵得分。

开局慌乱，被迫四处奔跑的利维特学会了将双腿变成武器，他冲球推进了 63 码，传球推进了 158 码。当老虎队在第四节初将比分扳平时，曾经震耳欲聋的体育场听起来像个图书馆——而不是体育酒吧里的那种。

但钱布利斯挺身而出，带领球队完成了13次进攻，最终以他自己14码的冲球达阵结束了比赛。领先6分后，皮特·戈尔丁让进攻组继续留在场上，准备进行两分转换。看台上，球迷们低声议论着，猜测着基芬的继任者又在琢磨着什么新的战术了。

在一家小型橄榄球强队的经历如何将密西西比大学四分卫特立尼达·钱布利斯塑造成最大舞台上的明星

然后，钱布利斯两次让老虎队越位，第二次越位后，这位四分卫露出了得意的笑容，仿佛路易斯安那州立大学已经落入了他的陷阱。

老虎队做到了。

“是的，我们整个星期都在练习这个，”他说。

叛逆者乐队只需几英寸的距离就能轻松完成转换，随着 Abba 的《Dancing Queen》从扬声器中刺耳响起，歌迷们再次陷入疯狂。

但利维特奋起直追，带领老虎队一路推进到奥莱米斯大学的7码线。在第四档进攻的关键时刻，杰伦·布拉克斯顿成功拦截了利维特的传球，锁定胜局。

布拉克斯顿一路狂奔穿过球场，他的整个防守组紧随其后。他们在替补席后载歌载舞，现场的喧闹声达到了令人难以忍受的地步，即使钱布利斯最后一次单膝跪地后，球迷们依然歌声不断、尖叫不止。

当广播员提醒球迷如果冲进球场将被罚款时，一名被派到场上负责阻止这场骚乱的公路巡警轻笑了一声。他似乎在说：好像这话一点儿也不假。

但密西西比大学的球迷并没有冲进球场。也许是因为他们害怕被罚款。

或者更有可能的是，因为他们不想让基芬得逞。

“你知道，很多人都瞧不起密西西比大学，”钱布利斯说。“这周你肯定也听到了。路易斯安那州立大学更有钱，设施更好，而且还有基芬教练撑腰。”