OXFORD − Shortly after Ole Miss football defeated Auburn to improve to 7-0 Saturday, coach Lane Kiffin sat down to watch Tennessee upset Alabama.
Kiffin had a unique vantage point of Tennessee’s 52-49 win over Alabama. Not only is he a rival SEC coach scouting potentially two future opponents, but he’s also a former Tennessee coach and former Alabama offensive coordinator who’s experienced both sides of the rivalry. Most personally, he watched as UT had a potential game-winning field goal blocked against Alabama in 2009 in what was the closest the Vols came to winning against Alabama before Saturday.
“I sent a tweet as they were lining up for that field goal,” Kiffin said Monday. “The guy did jump through the blocking, so it was kind of eerie. I didn’t catch the beginning because we were finishing up here with recruiting. But it was an exciting game. That’s football. That game goes either way.”
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Kiffin used Tennessee’s narrow win as an opportunity to illustrate his point about finishing games. In a close game like that one where both teams had a chance to kick game-winning field goals with less than a minute left, it’s hard to feel too good about a win or too bad about a loss as a coach.
“It’s always kind of funny for me,” Kiffin added. “The game can go either way. One side misses it, one side makes it. The whole world changes.”
Kiffin spent the week leading into the rivalry game poking the bear on Twitter. He sent multiple tweets expressing his support for Tennessee, ranging from a photo of him in Tennessee gear to his aforementioned tweet before the game-winner that simply read “Make it this time.” He also said before Ole Miss’ game against Auburn saying he was pulling for the Rebels and Tennessee to “beat the whole state of Alabama.”
Contact Nick Suss at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on Twitter @nicksuss.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Lane Kiffin watched Alabama vs Tennessee. Here’s are his thoughts.