The Return Didn't Go as Planned: LSU's Comeback Falls Short in Oxford
OXFORD, Miss. — Lane Kiffin knew what was waiting for him.
The boos.
The signs.
The chants.
An Oxford crowd that had spent nearly 10 months waiting for the opportunity to welcome its former coach back to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
What Kiffin probably didn't plan for was leaving without a win.
No. 7 LSU erased a 17-point halftime deficit and had an opportunity to complete the comeback in the final minutes Saturday night, but No. 8 Ole Miss made the plays when it mattered most, handing the Tigers their first loss of the season, 32-24.
For all the attention surrounding Kiffin's return, the night ultimately came down to something much simpler.
Ole Miss started faster.
LSU fought back.
And when the game was finally there for the taking, the Rebels finished.
Oxford Landed the First Punch
Everything LSU expected from Oxford arrived almost immediately.
The energy was different.
The crowd was loud.
And Ole Miss played like a team that had been waiting for this game just as long as its fans had.
The Rebels jumped out to a 10-0 first-quarter lead and stretched it to 17-0 before LSU finally put together a response.
Dilin Jones capped a 17-play, 75-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run, giving LSU some life late in the second quarter.
Then came one of the most damaging sequences of the night.
Instead of taking a manageable 17-7 deficit into halftime, LSU allowed Trinidad Chambliss and Ole Miss to drive 75 yards in less than two minutes.
With just seconds remaining, Chambliss found Deuce Alexander for a 20-yard touchdown.
Ole Miss 24. LSU 7.
The Grove had emptied into Vaught-Hemingway.
Lane Kiffin's homecoming was becoming an Oxford celebration.
Then LSU Finally Looked Like LSU
Whatever was said in LSU's locker room at halftime worked.
The Tigers came out looking like a completely different football team.
Jakeem Jackson intercepted Chambliss, and LSU turned the takeaway into a four-yard Sam Leavitt touchdown run.
24-14.
Then Leavitt found Winston Watkins Jr. for a 26-yard touchdown.
24-21.
Suddenly, the stadium that had spent the first half celebrating wasn't quite as comfortable.
And when Scott Starzyk knocked through a 23-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter, LSU had done
it.
24-24.
Seventeen unanswered points.
A 17-point deficit erased.
On a night that had been built almost entirely around Kiffin's return, LSU suddenly had an opportunity to write a very different ending.
Trinidad Chambliss Had Other Plans
This was the matchup Kiffin feared.
All week, he talked about Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and the problems he could create.
Saturday night, Chambliss proved him right.
He completed 33 of 48 passes for 363 yards and two touchdowns, repeatedly extending drives and finding answers when LSU appeared ready to take control.
His biggest answer came after LSU tied the game.
Ole Miss responded with a 13-play, 75-yard drive that drained more than five minutes from the clock.
Then Chambliss kept it himself.
Fourteen yards.
Touchdown.
Ole Miss added the two-point conversion.
32-24.
After everything LSU had done to get back into the game, the Rebels had taken the lead right back.
LSU Still Had One More Chance
The game wasn't over.
Leavitt and LSU moved the football deep into Ole Miss territory with an opportunity to tie the game.
With just over a minute remaining, the Tigers were inside the Rebels' 10-yard line.
This was it.
One touchdown.
One two-point conversion.
One opportunity to turn Kiffin's return into an LSU comeback people would talk about for years.
Instead, LSU blinked.
A false start pushed the Tigers backward at a critical moment.
Then, on fourth down from the Ole Miss 6, Leavitt's pass was tipped at the line and intercepted by Jaylon Braxton in the end zone.
Ballgame.
Oxford erupted.
And the return was officially spoiled.
Give Ole Miss Its Credit
There will be plenty for LSU to dissect from this one.
But sometimes the other team simply deserves credit.
Ole Miss did.
The Rebels outgained LSU 426-330.
They held Leavitt to 158 passing yards.
And when LSU had all the momentum after scoring 17 unanswered points, Ole Miss didn't panic.
Pete Golding's team responded with its best drive of the night.
For a program that spent an entire offseason hearing about the coach who left, this one clearly meant something.
Golding admitted as much afterward.
There were former Ole Miss coaches on LSU's sideline.
Former Ole Miss players too.
Everyone knew this wasn't just another game.
Ole Miss wanted this one.
And it earned it.
LSU Showed Fight — But Fight Isn't Enough
There are positives LSU can take from Saturday.
Dilin Jones rushed for 106 yards.
The Tigers didn't fold after falling behind 24-7.
They walked into one of the most hostile environments they'll see all season, absorbed the first-half
punch and fought all the way back.
That matters.
But LSU didn't go to Oxford looking for a moral victory.
Neither did Lane Kiffin.
Afterward, Kiffin praised his team for battling back but acknowledged the reality of what happened.
LSU didn't finish.
The defense couldn't get the final stop after the game was tied.
The offense couldn't finish the final drive when LSU had an opportunity to answer.
And in a top-10 SEC matchup, those moments are usually the difference between leaving with a win and leaving with questions.
Saturday night, they were.
The Return Is Over. Now LSU Has to Respond.
For months, this game had been circled.
Lane Kiffin's return.
LSU versus Ole Miss.
Former coaches.
Former players.
College GameDay.
No. 7 versus No. 8.
The Magnolia Bowl.
And now it's over.
Ole Miss gets the win.
Oxford gets the celebration.
Kiffin gets the long flight back to Baton Rouge.
But LSU's season didn't end Saturday night.
The Tigers are 2-1.
They showed enough in the second half to remind everyone why expectations remain high.
They also showed enough in the first half to understand exactly how much work remains.
And there isn't much time to dwell on it.
Because another top-10 SEC opponent is coming to Death Valley.
Saturday night in Oxford was about Lane Kiffin's past.
What LSU does next will tell us much more about its future.
The return didn't go as planned.
Now comes the response.
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