As the final seconds ticked off Ole Miss' come-from-behind 34-24 win over Florida, the fans inside Vaught Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Mississippi, started chanting, "We want Lane! We want Lane!"
Coach Lane Kiffin has long been rumored to be the top candidate for the Gators open head coaching job, making their matchup Saturday night somewhat awkward. Kiffin fielded questions before the week about his future at Ole Miss and again after the game given the opponent across the sideline.
"I love what we're doing here," Kiffin said when asked about his future at Ole Miss. "Today was awesome. To even talk about it right now would be so disrespectful to our players and how well they played today. We've got a lot of things going here. Doing really well, and I love it here."
The win moved No. 7 Ole Miss to 10-1, headed into an open date before closing the season at Mississippi State. A berth into the College Football Playoff is all but certain if the Rebels beat the Bulldogs in the Egg Bowl.
Though nobody at Ole Miss said their result against Florida last year would serve as a motivating factor, it is hard to ignore the fact that the Gators win over the Rebels last year kept them out of the playoff.
For a large chunk of Saturday night, it appeared Florida might do the same thing for a second straight season. In the first half, Ole Miss did not have an answer for Florida quarterback DJ Lagway, who threw one touchdown pass and ran for another to give the Gators a 24-20 lead at halftime.
Ole Miss made one mistake after another in the red zone, costing itself valuable points. Twice the Rebels turned the ball over on downs after getting inside the 5-yard line, and on two other drives they had to settle for field goals inside the 10.
But the defense held Florida scoreless in the second half, and the offense made enough plays to pull out the win. Trinidad Chambliss threw for 301 yards with a touchdown and an interception, while Kewan Lacy had a career-high 224 yards and three scores.
Kiffin, in his sixth season at Ole Miss, has led the Rebels to three straight 10-win seasons -- the longest streak in program history. His four 10-win seasons over last five seasons are more than the team had in previous 50 seasons combined (three).
Easy to see why a program like Florida would be interested. Former coach Billy Napier, whom Florida fired last month, never won 10 seasons during his tenure at Florida. Over the last 10 seasons, Florida has two 10-win seasons, both under former coach Dan Mullen in 2018 and 2019.
During the television broadcast, the camera panned to Florida fans in the crowd wearing orange and blue shirts that read, "Please Lane Come to Gainesville."
Despite what he said Saturday postgame, he did little to dispel the idea that he could, indeed, leave Ole Miss.
