Lane Kiffin makes bold claim about Ole Miss after LSU's loss

Lane Kiffin used Wednesday's SEC coaches' teleconference to argue for a gentler verdict on No. 10 LSU's 32-24 loss at No. 4 Ole Miss, the game that brought him back to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium for the first time since he left the Rebels for Baton Rouge last November.

Ole Miss led 24-7 at halftime Saturday night in front of a record crowd before LSU scored 17 unanswered points to tie it early in the fourth quarter. The Rebels went back ahead with 6:14 left, and defensive back Jaylon Braxton's interception in the end zone ended LSU's final drive.

"If it wasn't for the name, Ole Miss, and if it was more of a traditional name that we were playing, we hadn't coached at before, how would everybody be feeling if, in your third game of your first year of a program, you went to Ohio State and came all the way back?" Kiffin asked on the call. "The quarterback didn't play very ... ours [Sam Leavitt] didn't play very well, and theirs played lights out. I'm sure after three games, he would be named the Heisman winner.

"So, I think when you look at it that way and say, OK, man, their Super Bowl, then all the stuff around it, all the energy in the stadium, everything, and we're right there at the end with multiple chances to win the game," he continued. "We got to learn from that and finish when we're in that type of situation again."

Does the Ohio State comparison really hold up?

Ole Miss entered Saturday's game ranked No. 8, one spot behind LSU, and Kiffin left Oxford ahead of last season's College Football Playoff, a run the Rebels finished without him. 

They also kept Trinidad Chambliss, the quarterback Kiffin tried and failed to bring to Baton Rouge, and Chambliss threw for 363 yards on 33-of-48 passing before scoring the go-ahead touchdown himself.

The profile sits closer to the Ohio State in Kiffin's hypothetical than to an opponent whose whole season rode on one September night.

LSU, now 2-1 and ranked No. 10, hosts No. 23 Texas A&M at Tiger Stadium on Saturday, while Ole Miss takes its 3-0 record to No. 21 Florida.