Lane Kiffin Keeps Tradition Alive Of 'Complaining' About Ole Miss Fans Leaving Game Early During Blowout Win

Lane Kiffin doesn't just challenge the Ole Miss football team, he's made it a habit since arriving in Oxford five seasons ago to challenge the Rebel fanbase as well. All it took was two blowout home wins for Kiffin to issue his first complaint about the fanbase this time around.

Ole Miss kicked off the season with a 76-0 win over Furman, an FCS program, and followed that up with a 52-3 win over Middle Tennessee. The program announced attendance for both of those games as being over 66,000, which those numbers are inflated and more closely reflect tickets sold instead of butts in seats, but nevertheless, the crowds for both games have been strong.

I was in attendance for both games, and I'd say actual attendance for both was similar to one another, likely around the 51-52,000 mark. Again, strong numbers for games Ole Miss had a 0.00% chance of losing.

By the time halftime comes around, those 50,000-ish fans turn into something around 30,000, which isn't a reality Lane Kiffin appreciates.

"I think it's really important for the players when you come back out of the tunnel for the second half or you go into the end zone and you look up and see the difference. I don't really understand it. Maybe I'm naive to it, but if a concert is going really well…do you leave? Like if the products really bad and come back out in the second half and the stadium's half empty — I understand when it's a bad product — but I really don't understand it," Kiffin said on Sunday, according to The Rebel Walk.

Lane Kiffin isn't exactly pleased with the Ole Miss fanbase two weeks into the season. (Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images)

He wasn't done there, either.

"I think it's pretty entertaining to watch a team play really well. When you have that a week ago and after your quarterback threw — in the first half — for 350 yards and responsible for five touchdowns, first in the SEC since Joe Burrow to do that," Kiffin continued. "Then you have the most accurate (passing) streak in the history of the SEC and the stadium's half empty for a top-six team in America, that just doesn't — I don't understand it. It's frustrating, but I can't control it. I'm just disappointed for our players. And I thought it was good weather. I've heard 'too hot', heard 'rain', heard 'too cold', heard 'hunting season' so I've kind of heard all the reasons before. I don't really know what this one was."

If these ‘complaints’ from Kiffin this season and in years past have reminded us of anything it's that he is, in fact, a former member of Nick Saban's staff at Alabama. Coach Saban would constantly challenge Crimson Tide fans to not only show up early to Alabama games, but stick around throughout the contest no matter what the score was. Lane has taken a page out of Saban's playbook.

Kiffin is swinging a double-edged sword, metaphorically speaking of course. He has pushed Ole Miss into being a Top 10 team in the nation, and keeping fans fully engaged into a four-hour game against far inferior opponents with The Grove just outside the stadium is virtually impossible.

Everyone can understand Kiffin's point of view, he wants as many fans to be there for his players for all 60 minutes, but that's a tall, tall ask when you're out scoring your first two opponents 128-3.

While some may think Kiffin's comments are a big deal, they're not, he's simply challenging fans to come fully prepared for the remainder of the season. The crowd when Georgia Southern comes to town for the next home game will likely mirror the crowd seen for the Middle Tennessee game, but when SEC plays start with Kentucky visiting Oxford he fully expects a big-time audience.

Oh, and for anyone who cares, I left at halftime of both of the first two games. Sorry, Lane.