Following Georgia Blueprint Gives Lane Kiffin Best Chance At Finally Winning The Big Game | Trey Wallace

Lane Kiffin sat in Georgia's visiting team media room last season, coming off a devastating loss to the Bulldogs, and made it clear that if Ole Miss were going to compete with a team like the one they had just faced, then he had to rebuild his roster to resemble the one Kirby Smart had on the field. 

It was more of a realization moment for the Ole Miss head coach, still trying to conform to the idea that what he'd done before that game wasn't going to work. The Rebels needed to look like an SEC powerhouse, and not just rely on the high-speed offense to get them over the hump. 

If anything, Lane Kiffin sat in front of those reporters in Athens and made it clear that the off-season was going to be spent on putting together a roster that was the size of a team like Georgia. For some fans it felt like an excuse, but for the folks around Oxford that handle recruiting and NIL, this was a warning that if they were going to succeed, it was time to put it all on the table. 

Ever since that transfer portal period started last year, the only goal has been to compete for an SEC title, and make the college football playoff. Long gone are the days of being okay with coming in fourth place, or almost reaching the postseason. And Lane Kiffin knew that with the college football playoff expanding to 12 teams, this was the opportunity to go all-in for a shot at the title. 

One Year Later, There Have Been Speed Bumps, But The Plan Is Working

A full year since that 52-17 loss in Athens, I wouldn't say everything has gone according to plan for the Rebels, but they have built a roster from the transfer portal and NIL that can compete with Georgia, and look like it on the field. 

"I said 'We’re going to do everything in our power to change the way that we look. As a team, but especially defensively.’ We might not be very good, but we’re going to look a lot better in our uniforms," Lane Kiffin discussed last year. "A lot of that was signing players that are already significant players in the SEC, that we’ve seen play against these teams."

But the notion that spending over $10 million on a roster is going to buy you a season without many bumps in the road along the way is rubbish. When Kentucky strolled into Oxford in September and upset the Rebels, there were folks scratching their heads, wondering what they had just witnessed. 

BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA - OCTOBER 12: Head Coach Brian Kelly of the LSU Tigers talks with Head Coach Lane Kiffin of the Ole Miss Rebels before the game against the Ole Miss Rebels at Tiger Stadium on October 12, 2024 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Gus Stark/LSU/University Images via Getty Images}

A trip to Baton Rouge last month presented another hurdle, losing in overtime to LSU after the offense went cold, forcing Ole Miss to kick four field-goals after a burst in the first half that had folks along the Rebels sideline thinking they were leaving with a win. But once again, the Rebels were popped in the mouth and left Louisiana with a humbling loss that could leave them out of the playoff. 

Everything that Lane Kiffin and his staff had done in the offseason to compile a roster that was capable of playing for a national championship was starting to weigh heavy on their minds. 

A win over Arkansas last weekend proved that this team was capable of rising to the challenge, but now the season comes down to a game against Georgia. A story that started in the visitors' locker room last season is now upon us, and Lane Kiffin is preparing for the biggest game of his Ole Miss tenure. 

The Stage Is Set For Ole Miss To Prove The Doubters Wrong

If there was ever a game where Jaxson Dart and this Rebels offense came out with a gunslinger mentality, this is it. There's a feeling, deep down in most of you outside of Oxford, that Lane Kiffin has fumbled enough opportunities to win the ‘Big Game’ that your heart is telling you that this will be just another example of buying-in too early. 

I get it. There's a stigma that surrounds Kiffin, and these matchups against teams that you think they’ll have a good shot at beating, only to be letdown at the end. You think that doesn't eat him up at nights? As much as he loves to poke the bear, Kiffin has been much more subdued this season. Whether that's because he's nervous about the end result, knowing everything that went into this 2024 season, or that he's continued to mature along his path to be a more calming figure in the public eye. 

He, along with his players, don't need to be told how big this game is. They know, I promise. For everything that has transpired over the last year. For all the buildup to this season, and the expectations that have been bestowed upon this team, only for them to come up short in the two previous losses, there's still a swagger inside that football building in Oxford. 

AUSTIN, TEXAS - OCTOBER 19: Head Coach Kirby Smart of the Georgia Bulldogs lead his team onto the field during a game between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Texas Longhorns at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on October 19, 2024 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Steve Limentani/ISI Photos/Getty Images)

Georgia has a streak right now that's certainly mind-blowing to the rest of college football. Kirby Smart is 48-0 against teams not named Alabama over the past four years. The expectation, according to Vegas, is that Georgia will make it 49-0 after today's matchup. And while that might be the case, you can't tell me this is the same type of Ole Miss team we all witnessed get throttled in Athens last season. 

So, that leaves us with two scenarios. Georgia strolls into Oxford and rips any hopes of making the playoffs out of the hearts of Ole Miss fans and the football program. 

The other scenario is Lane Kiffin and the Rebels finally getting over the hump, winning a game that will put them on a collision course with the college football playoff, and force the doubters to go silent into the night. 

For all the fun Kiffin has on social media, while taking a few shots at current events in the sport, there is nothing more that he'd rather do than to finally muzzle the folks that have doubted him during his career in monumental games. 

This afternoon, his team gets a chance to speak for their head coach on the field. .