Even though freshly off a dominant 27-3 win against University of South Carolina on Saturday, another game occupied Lane Kiffin's mind.
During his post-game conference, the Ole Miss head coach was more invested in witnessing the historic moment of Vanderbilt beating then No.1 Alabama, thanks to the small TV mounted in the back corner of the small media room at Williams-Brice Stadium.
While answering the media questions, Kiffin caught the final two minutes of Bama vs. Vanderbilt. His reaction captured the magnitude of the moment.
"How many timeouts does Alabama have?" Kiffin asked indiscriminately to the reporters. "Take a picture, guys. Sorry, I mean this is a once-in-a-lifetime thing going on. Better watch, you’re probably not ever going to see this again."
Kiffin's confidence in Alabama's squad might be rooted in him being a part of Alabama's coaching staff back in 2014 to 2016 as their offensive coordinator. Yet knowing Kiffin's outspoken personality means that he isn't afraid of throwing shade at Kalen DeBoer for losing against Vanderbilt. Kiffin held his tongue-- this time.
How the upset loss affected Ole Miss Rebels
In the AP Top 25 Poll, Kiffin and Co. started at a solid No. 6 position in Week 1. However, as the season progressed, their ranks have progressively slipped and in Week 6, they were at No. 12.
In this, not only did the Rebels' total shutout win against South Carolina with a 24-point dominance aid in upscaling their rankings, but Alabama and Michigan's upsetting losses also did their part in getting Ole Miss up the charts.
Now in Week 7, The Rebels sit at No. 9, while Alabama tumbled down to No. 7.
Ole Miss faces LSU next.
