Ole Miss Rebels' Lane Kiffin: Beating Georgia at Home is 'The Hardest Thing to Pull Off'
OXFORD, Miss. -- Lane Kiffin and the No. 10 Ole Miss Rebels have a tall task on hand this weekend when they travel to face the No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs.
Georgia is the No. 2 team in the first installment of the College Football Playoff Poll, but they have held the No. 1 ranking in the AP Poll for a long time, challenging streaks like that of the USC Trojans in the early 2000s. Kiffin didn't pull his punches in media availability on Monday: he knows that Georgia is superbly talented, and that mixed with good coaching is dangerous.
"This is a very challenging combination of having elite, phenomenal players and elite, phenomenal coaches combined on the road," Kiffin said. "There's the trifecta of 'What's the hardest thing to pull off?' This would be it."
Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin and QB Jaxson Dart.
Carleigh Harbin-The Grove Report
Kiffin was also sure to get some jokes in on Monday, as well. There is talk of a "coaches group chat," and the Rebels head coach said he even asked coaches in there (including Georgia coach Kirby Smart) for some tips on how to win this weekend.
Unfortunately for Lane, Kirby has yet to respond.
"Other people responded, and he's not responded yet on it," Kiffin said with a laugh. "I was asking if anybody has advice. I added (Missouri coach Eli) Drinkiwitz, so he's on there, but Kirby didn't really respond. We haven't played him before, so maybe he has a rule that during the week of the game, he doesn't respond to you."
On a more serious note, Kiffin knows that what Smart has been able to do at Georgia is a very difficult feat, especially considering he has been an assistant on staffs that have similar streaks in the AP Top 25: USC and Alabama.
"He's done an unbelievable job," Kiffin said. "They're in the midst of a run--I think I read at No. 1 in the country for so many weeks. The next one to catch is the USC run. That just tells you how hard it is to do what they're doing to stay No. 1 that long. Being that close to a three-peat is phenomenal."
Kiffin and the Rebels are coming off a last-second win over Texas A&M last week in Oxford, and kickoff against Georgia is slated for 6 p.m. CT on Saturday. The game will be televised on ESPN.
