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Lane Kiffin Ole Miss: This week’s top college football showdown has No. 9 Georgia facing off against No. 5 Ole Miss. The excitement brought ESPN’s College GameDay crew to Athens, Georgia, on Saturday morning.
During the show, Georgia coach Kirby Smart joined the set and sat beside his former mentor, Nick Saban, creating a fun and nostalgic moment for fans.
Saban brought up their old colleague, Lane Kiffin, now the head coach at Ole Miss. He reminded Smart that Kiffin had been Alabama’s offensive coordinator from 2014 to 2016 — back when Smart was still running the defense through 2015.
“Kirby, let me ask you something,” Saban said with a smile. “We both know Lane really well.
How important is it for your defense to hide its plans before the snap? Everyone’s seen that famous ‘Lane whistle.’ When he figures out what defense you’re in, he doesn’t waste time — he’ll find a way to use it against you.”
Before Saban could even finish, Smart was already nodding, clearly on the same page.
“It’s honestly fascinating,” Smart said. “If you really want to see something fun, just watch Lane on the sideline.
He studies the defense, locks in on the secondary, and the second he spots a signal he recognizes — that whistle comes out. Next thing you know, his offense is lined up in the perfect play.”
Smart chuckled and added, “That’s why our fans have a huge role today. They’ve got to be loud enough to drown him out so he can’t communicate with his quarterback. Whether it works or not, we’ll find out.”
“He’s very sharp,” Smart said. “Most of the time, they’re going to see what defense you’re in. The trick is to play your assignments better than they can adjust. No call is ever perfect.
If you’re in man coverage, play man. In quarters, play quarters. In Cover-2, play Cover-2. Lane’s offense is often in the right play, and he does an outstanding job of making it work.”
Later, Kiffin joined the show remotely from Ole Miss’ morning walkthrough. Saban asked with a smile, “Lane, is the whistle ready today? Are we going to see you take advantage of anything early? How will you handle their third-down package?”
“Yep, the whistle’s ready,” Kiffin said. “We use it to signal the quarterback all the time. People always ask, ‘Is it loud enough?’ I tell them about that overtime in Baton Rouge at Tiger Stadium.
I was right next to Kirby Smart and Coach Saban. We whistled to Blake Sims, he turned, we switched to a pick play, and we ended up beating LSU.” Kiffin laughed and added, “Kirby even tackled me after the win.”
Georgia (5-1, 3-1 SEC) enters this SEC showdown as a 7.5-point favorite. The game kicks off at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC. Ole Miss (6-0, 3-0) is the higher-ranked team and one of only 11 FBS programs still unbeaten.
The Rebels already have a top-10 win over LSU at home and will look to add another this Saturday. Last year, Ole Miss beat Georgia 28-10 in Oxford under Kiffin.
Still, the Bulldogs have dominated in Athens, winning six straight matchups and 11 of the last 13 overall. Historically, Ole Miss has struggled in Athens, holding a 4-19-1 record against Georgia.
Georgia’s only defeat this season came at home against Alabama. They also needed overtime to edge past Tennessee. At Auburn last week, they trailed 10-0 and were almost down 17-0 following a disputed Tigers goal-line fumble.
The Bulldogs bounced back in the second half to claim the victory. Smart was asked how he’s been handling the team’s tendency to start games slowly.
“That’s something you really don’t want to dwell on,” he said. “If you focus on it too much, it usually doesn’t go your way. Just like turnovers — we’ve had a few recently. I can promise you this: we want to get off to a fast start. We’ll do everything possible to make it happen.”
Smart was asked about the challenge of making defensive substitutions on third down against Kiffin and Ole Miss offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr.
He laughed and said, “I don’t think they really care.
We’ve struggled on third down so much, they just want us to get our players on the field. It’s a game within the game. Honestly, everyone does something similar.”
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