BRASELTON, Georgia — There was a lot of talk Saturday about Chris Low's story on Lane Kiffin, his subsequent report about Ole Miss officials and Kiffin being down the road on a new contract and then late Saturday on Brett McMurphy's cryptic tweet following Georgia's 43-35 win over the Rebels.
I know both Low and McMurphy and have for decades. Low sat directly behind/above me in the Sanford Stadium press box Saturday. We had a nice chat just minutes before kickoff.
I don't know McMurphy nearly as well, but he's well-respected in the field. They both work for a competitor now, so I'm not going to go out of my way to advertise their work, but I'll simply say I'm not readily discounting either of them despite their apparent differing views.
Why? Well, on one hand, it's complicated. On the other, it couldn't be simpler.
If we — Chase Parham, Tyler Komis, Brian Rippee and me — reported everything we hear about Kiffin vis-a-vis the Florida job, the Penn State job, all the jobs, we'd essentially be more of a rumor-mongering gossip rag than a media outlet. Further, like I said, I don't think it's as complicated as some make it.
Ole Miss is going to do everything it can to keep Kiffin. That's been made abundantly clear through both words and actions. It will pay him, pay his staff, pay his support staff, build what can be built, maximize revenue sharing and exhaust any and all NIL efforts to keep Kiffin happy in Oxford. Period.
I'm not going to get into all of the stuff about Kiffin loving Oxford. It's incredibly well-documented at this point. His daughter is a junior at Ole Miss. His son, Knox, is a sophomore at Oxford High School. On Saturday morning, Kiffin was posting highlights on X like the proud father he was. The night before, Knox quarterbacked OHS to a dramatic win over district foe Germantown.
Kiffin has been effusive in his praise of Oxford. One either believes him or doesn't at this point.
However, I do believe multiple things can be true at one time. The E-60 documentary on Kiffin that was released last month felt authentic and packaged at the same time. I do believe he wanted to help others and his story — giving up alcohol, embracing a second chance at being a more physically present father — is one that has impacted countless people. If that cleaned up his image a bit in the process, well, that was smart public relations by his representation, and Kiffin is represented by one of the very best.
Still, in my opinion, none of that matters. None of it. Not Oxford, not his image, none of it. In my opinion, this is simple.
Kiffin's tenure at Ole Miss — whether it's a few more weeks, a few more years or another couple of decades — will last as long as he believes he's at a place where he can win a national championship. Period. What I think, what you think, what the pundits think, what Jimmy Sexton thinks, etc., doesn't matter.
Anyone who sees Kiffin on game day knows the fire burns bright. He desperately wants to win at the highest level. He clearly sees himself — rightly, I'll add — as a contemporary to guys like Kirby Smart and Dan Lanning and Steve Sarkisian and he passionately wants to compete on the largest stage.
Kiffin was part of a dynasty at USC. He was part of two championship runs — and one title — at Alabama. He years to return to that level. He doesn't have to say that. One can see it.
I'm on record, at least for now, that I don't think Kiffin will leave for Florida. I'm not sure the Gators are as positioned as others to win in the fast-changing landscape of college football. Hell, I'm not sure anyone really has a grasp on the current landscape, one in which Indiana and Vanderbilt are in the top 10 today while Auburn is contemplating whether to fire yet another failed coach.
But again, my opinion doesn't matter. Neither does Low's or McMurphy's or Paul Finebaum's or anyone else in the media. If Kiffin leaves — and there can't be enough emphasis put on the word "if" — it will be because he and he alone believes another place gives him a better opportunity to win a title.
All Ole Miss can do is take every possible opportunity to convince Kiffin it will do everything it can to make that opportunity available in Oxford. Glenn Boyce, Keith Carter and the rest there are doing just that, and that's not supposition. It's fact.
The rumors and social media posts aren't going away. The silly season is just getting started. I'm not going to comment on every report/rumor. Speaking of silly, that would absolutely be silly, because unless I know what Kiffin is thinking when the time comes to make a decision, my thoughts on the matter really aren't that important.
And that leads me to my final point. Today is Oct. 19. What Kiffin thinks today doesn't matter nearly as much as what he thinks at the end of November. He's a smart guy with elite representation. He told Low he's focusing on the now, and I believe him. Hell, that was obvious Saturday as Ole Miss scored touchdowns on its first five offensive possessions.
Three years ago, Kiffin was likely leaving for Auburn until he wasn't. I certainly believe that, and based on the aforementioned E-60 documentary, so does Landry Kiffin.
Three years later, Kiffin will probably have another decision to make. He'll make it when he makes it, I suspect, meaning any breathless speculation about what sources are saying today — one way or the other — really might not mean much when the end of November rolls around.
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1. Ole Miss lost at Georgia Saturday. By now, you know that.
The Rebels are now 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the Southeastern Conference. The Georgia game was the first of a two-game road trip — thus the reference to a seven-game NBA series in my postgame column — and now the Rebels need a win at Oklahoma to earn a split.
Saturday's game in Norman (11 a.m., ABC) is simply huge. With a win, Ole Miss has a very real chance to finish 11-1, a record that might or might not earn them a spot in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta in early December but would absolutely guarantee them a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoffs.
After Oklahoma, the Rebels return home to Mississippi for the final month of the season. Ole Miss has a three-game home stand versus South Carolina, The Citadel and Florida before facing Mississippi State on Black Friday in Starkville. The three remaining SEC foes after Oklahoma are a collective 3-9 in league play and one, Florida, is, at a minimum, seriously considering firing its head coach mid-season.
With a loss to the Sooners, Ole Miss' ceiling would be 10-2. That might be enough to get an at-large spot to the CFP but the media narrative that 10 wins is an absolute lock is based on one-year sample size and strong regional bias.
At 10-2, Ole Miss' best SEC win would likely be LSU, and the Tigers are staring four and maybe five losses directly in the face. The Rebels do have a home win over Tulane (6-1), and Jon Sumrall's Green Wave have a clear path to 10 and maybe 11 wins. After that, the resume is shaky. Washington State is 3-4. So is The Citadel. Georgia State is 1-6. Kentucky and Arkansas, two of Ole Miss' September victims, have yet to win a league game. In other words, there's not a lot of meat on the bone if Ole Miss doesn't beat Oklahoma.
A win over the Sooners erases all of that. Simply put, it's a monumental game. An 11-1 team with one loss on the road at Georgia is either playing in Atlanta or Oxford in December. That should be all the incentive the Rebels need.
"We have a lot of season left," Ole Miss wide receiver De'Zhaun Stribling said. "We're not going to let this one loss define us. We're focused on the now, what's happening right in front of us. All that stuff will unfold later on."
"I think this team is very resilient," quarterback Trinidad Chambliss said. "We're a very resilient group all season. We were 6-0. We were perfect but that's not the case and you know you're going to run into some bumps in the road. Georgia is a good team; credit to them, but this team is not done. This isn't going to define our season. We're going to bounce back and get ready for Oklahoma. We've got to play some good ball."
Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables celebrates a safety against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the second half at Williams-Brice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Blake-Imagn Images (Photo: USA TODAY Sports)
2. Up next: Oklahoma.
The Sooners won at South Carolina on Saturday, 26-7. Here's some content from SoonersIllustrated.com:
Tory Blaylock had a good feeling about Oklahoma's prospects against South Carolina after just second play of the game at Williams-Brice Stadium.
Facing second-and-20 after a holding penalty put the Sooners behind the sticks, Blaylock broke off an 18-yard run to set his offense up with third-and-short. Oklahoma converted it and proceeded to march downfield, going 75 yards across 10 plays — a statement of an opening drive that was capped by another 18-yard run by Blaylock, this one for a touchdown.
"After that run, I knew what type of day it was going to be," Blaylock said of the second snap of the game.
After struggling to run the ball with any sort of consistency against Power Four opponents this season, including a meager 48 yards in last week's loss to rival Texas, Oklahoma made a concerted effort to quell some of those concerns—and answer questions about its offense—in a 26-7 win against South Carolina on the road. The Sooners ran for 172 yards against the Gamecocks, with Blaylock leading the way with 101 yards on the ground — his second time hitting the century mark this season.
The 172 yards were Oklahoma's most against a Power Four opponent since last year's win against Alabama (257) and its second most against a Power Four defense in the last two seasons.
It all began with Blaylock's big second-down run, which offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle called a tone-setter for the Sooners on the afternoon.
"It set the tone for how we wanted to be the entire day," Arbuckle said. "Preached to these guys all week, and this morning in our in our meetings, that today is all about your mindset and your mentality. Tory did a great job getting up in there. The offensive line on that play got great movement, ID'd the right guys, went up to the backer, and the perimeter blocking by the receivers was awesome, too.
"But Tory ran hard. He ran with an unbelievable mentality of, 'I've got to be really tough to take down right here.' And he was, and it put us in a great position to keep the drive going."
Of the 75 yards Oklahoma spanned on that opening touchdown drive, 50 of them came on the ground. In the span of 10 plays and 5 ½ minutes, the Sooners totaled more rushing yards against the Gamecocks than they did in 60 minutes in last week's Red River Rivalry game.
It was a harbinger of things to come for Oklahoma on the day. Along with Blaylock's big performance, which included three runs of 13 yards or longer, the Sooners got a solid supporting effort from sophomore Xavier Robinson, who had 58 yards and a touchdown on 11 touches — 8 yards more than he had on 16 combined carries entering Saturday and his best single-game performance since a breakout showing against Alabama.
After Blaylock set the tone on the opening drive, Robinson led the way on Oklahoma's third possession. He had a 25-yard run that was the Sooners' longest play of the day, and five plays later, he scored from 10 yards out—after bobbling a handoff from John Mateer, securing the ball and breaking a tackle on a run up the middle of the Gamecocks' defense. That put OU up 14-0 early in the second quarter.
"They ran with confidence," Arbuckle said. "They ran with confidence. They didn't go down easy. There's a lot of times, and it happens to everyone in the country, but there's a lot of times, maybe someone's trying to arm tackle them at one or two yards. Well, we weren't falling down today. We weren't being tackled. Those guys were running through it. They were playing behind their pads. They were fighting for extra yards. The offensive line was moving the pile.
"And then whenever the plays came their way, they did an awesome job of sticking their foot north and going. And I'm happy for those guys. It's a testament to the process that they've been putting in, that the whole running back has been running back room has been putting in over the last four or five weeks. And everybody sees that at the game, but I get to see that at practice. And so, it's something that we can continue to build on. But I'm really, really proud of Tory and X for how tough and physical they were today."
While Blaylock and Robinson had success on the ground and revived Oklahoma's stagnant rushing attack, the Sooners' offensive line also answered the call after being challenged throughout the week by head coach Brent Venables. It showed in a performance in which OU finished with just three plays for a loss of yards — only one of which was on a designed run: a 1-yard loss by Taylor Tatum late in the fourth quarter.
"It feels amazing," Blaylock said. "O-line, tight ends, receivers — everybody contributed to this performance…. So, it just feels good to be back out here on the good side of things, winning, back in the driver's seat."
Vanderbilt Commodores head coach Clark Lea celebrates the win with his team and the student section against the Louisiana State Tigers during the second half at FirstBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images (Photo: USA TODAY Sports)
3. It's time for my weekly ranking of the SEC.
This exercise gets weirder by the week.
1. Texas A&M — The Aggies just win, even though Arkansas gave them quite the scare.
2. Alabama — The Tide is quickly emerging as a legit national title contender.
3. Georgia — The Bulldogs are relentless despite not being as talented as in years past.
4. Missouri — We start a run right here of teams that are all basically the same.
5. Vanderbilt — Clark Lea's guys aren't cute. They're just good.
6. Ole Miss — The Rebels' defense is a major problem moving forward.
7. Oklahoma — The Sooners and Rebels play what feels like a playoff game on Saturday.
8. Tennessee — The Vols were out-classed in Tuscaloosa. Simple as that.
9. LSU — Brian Kelly would be advised to take the Penn State job if he can get it.
10. Texas — Can we stop talking about Texas like the preseason matters?
11. South Carolina — The Gamecocks are just average.
12. Florida — The Gators held off Mississippi State. It's any day now for Billy Napier.
13. Auburn — There's no way to massage this. There's no happy ending happening on the Plains.
14. Mississippi State — The Bulldogs just don't have enough.
15. Arkansas — Bless their hearts. They play so hard. Their defense is just horrid.
16. Kentucky — Bless their hearts, too. It's borderline unfair.
Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer looks on after the game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Leong-Imagn Images (Photo: USA TODAY Sports)
4. I could never be an Associated Press Top 25 voter. After all, I passed the smallest of "No Kings" protestors as I pulled into Athens Saturday morning and thought, "You idiots," as opposed to "Heroes." That disqualifies me from mainstream journalism.
However, if I had a ballot, mine would look like this today:
1. Ohio State
2. Indiana
3. Texas A&M
4. Alabama
5. Oregon
6. Georgia
7. Vanderbilt
8. Ole Miss
9. Georgia Tech
10. Oklahoma
11. Miami
12. Notre Dame
13. BYU
14. Tennessee
15. Virginia
16. South Florida
17. Texas Tech
18. Cincinnati
19. Louisville
20. Illinois
21. Michigan
22. Arizona State
23. LSU
24. Texas
25. Michigan
Former Kentucky Wildcats guard Travis Perry (11) drives the ball against Alabama Crimson Tide guard Aden Holloway (2) during the second half at Coleman Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Will McLelland-Imagn Images (Photo: USA TODAY Sports)
5. Ilias Kamardine said Tuesday at SEC Tip-Off in Mountain Brook, Ala., that his new teammate, Ole Miss guard Travis Perry, is one of the best shooters he's ever seen.