What Does Win Over Georgia Mean For Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss Football?

Head coach Lane Kiffin has been searching for a program-defining victory in his time in Oxford. Did he achieve that on Saturday?

Nov 9, 2024; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin reacts during the second half against the Georgia Bulldogs at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images / Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Ole Miss pulled off a historic 28-10 upset over Georgia on Saturday, and head coach Lane Kiffin's legacy with the Rebels received a defining moment in the process.

For Kiffin, this marks a major moment in program history as well as his career as a head coach. Coming into the game, Ole Miss had not beaten a top five team since Alabama in 2015, but it attacked the transfer portal this offseason with games like this specifically in mind.

"Really happy for our university," Kiffin said postgame. "Five years ago when we came here coming off of four non-winning seasons, a lot of really good things have happened, but there's not been a signature game like this. Been close. Just really happy."

Kiffin has coached the Rebels for four-plus seasons now, and has had a winning record in every year outside of the COVID-impacted 2020 season where they finished 5-5. To say that he rebuilt the football program after Ole Miss was mired in NCAA sanctions would be an understatement, but as he pointed out, there hadn't been a "signature win."

With Saturday's result, it has become clear that this Ole Miss team is one that can not only be among the best, but dominate the best as well. And with the season drawing to a close and the playoff race heating up, Kiffin has put the Rebels in the middle of said race.

"That's a great Georgia team. When playing non-Alabama teams, they won 51 straight games against people since COVID," Kiffin said. "I'm happy for our players, to play that way, in what ends up being dominant.

"To win by three scores, there are a lot of people doing a lot of things right. This game started a year ago, when they [Georgia] beat us like that, and we made a decision to go to the [transfer] portal, got some guys to come back and not go to the draft, to come back for this."

Kiffin's ability to retain talent is impressive. With so many key starters returning this season, all so that they could win games like this, it sends a message on the kind of culture Kiffin has crafted in Oxford. The ability to also bring in impact players through the transfer portal has earned Kiffin the nickname "Portal King."

The popular slogan for the university on the academic side has been "Build Your Legacy at Ole Miss," and Lane Kiffin has certainly done that in his time in Oxford.

The Rebels have an open date ahead this week as they look to recuperate for their final two games of the season. Ole Miss' next game is at Florida on Nov. 23 with kickoff set for 11:00 a.m. CT. The game will be televised on ABC or ESPN.