No one has better perspective on the dynamics and emotions at play for Lane Kiffin’s return Saturday to Oxford, Miss., than one of his LSU coaching predecessors and mentors.
Nick Saban’s return to Baton Rouge as Alabama’s head coach is the closest precedent to Saturday’s top-10 tilt between the No. 7 Tigers (2-0) and No. 8 Ole Miss (2-0), with the senses of betrayal and hostility for Kiffin’s departure from the latter this offseason to take over the Magnolia Bowl rival program.
In the LSU-Alabama rivalry, the road team won the first two meetings after Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa, including the Crimson Tide’s 27-21 overtime win in his first return to Tiger Stadium.
Saban forecast a similar outcome for Kiffin and the Tigers on Saturday in what figures to be an electric Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
“I think Trinidad Chambliss is the most dynamic player in college football,” Saban said. “I think (Kewan) Lacy’s the best running back in football. I love Pete Golding as a defensive coach, and I think he’ll have ’em ready. But defense travels, and LSU has the better defense, so I’m taking LSU.”
Saban’s prediction split the crew’s picks for the day’s marquee game, following Desmond Howard’s quick selection of the home Rebels.
“The home team has won 12 of the last 14, including six straight,” the former Heisman and Super Bowl winner said. “Trinidad’s number is six. On the desk with the great Morgan Freeman (an Ole Miss fan). Hotty Toddy, y’all.”
Freeman, the legendary actor who spent time as a child in nearby Charleston, Miss., was decked out in Ole Miss blue and red in support of the university he considers a home away from home.
“Let me just say this out loud: If I go for what’s his name? Lane? Is that it? I will not be able to go home tonight. That’s a fact,” Freeman said, playfully feigning forgetting the Rebels’ former coach’s name, before continuing to Saban: “So, in spite of my belief in your every thought, OLE MISS!”
Pat McAfee built on the commentary from Freeman, whose portrayals of God in the “Bruce Almighty” and “Evan Almighty” films have become lasting calling cards in a prolific career overall.
And the former West Virginia and Indianapolis Colts punter who has become a sports entertainment celebrity followed Freeman’s selection as well, sending the home crowd into a roar — but not without sneaking in a double-down on an even more notable prediction in favor of the Tigers as well.
“I do like that you say, ‘Coach Saban, I have belief in every thought,’ because when you speak, we all listen,” McAfee said. “And when I see something, it’s hard to forget it. That Week 1, I was down in Baton Rouge. And as God as my witness here, that LSU team looked fast. That LSU team looked talented. That LSU fan base looked committed. I actually said last week that I think LSU wins the national championship by 50 points. What could little ole Pete Golding and Ole Miss do against a team that I’ve been talking about like that?
“Well, you step foot in this incredibly hot state, you feel the energy from these fine folks, you can tell that hate can certainly motivate. And it does feel like in college football if that stadium’s upside-down, anything can happen. So I guess the question you’ve gotta ask, Morgan Freeman, is ‘ARE YOU READY!?'”
The shout kicked off a fan chorus of the “Hotty Toddy” chant, before McAfee continued: “Give me Ole Miss to beat Lane Kiffin as the football gods and actual God say there’s some football justice in this world.
He lowered his voice to add, “I still believe in LSU to win the national championship,” before shouting again: “Give me Ole Miss to get a huge win on this day. Thank you for the hospitality! Hotty Toddy!”
