Ole Miss had a stellar first half on the road against Oklahoma, taking a 22-10 lead on the Sooners and the Rebels put together one of their best halves of football this season.
So when the Ole Miss offense failed to get a first down on their opening drive of the second half, it was assumed that Lane Kiffin would elect to punt on 4th and 1 from his own 25. Well, you know what happens when you assume anything about Kiffin.
The always-aggressive coach decided to go for it and bring in backup quarterback Austin Simmons just to put him and starting quarterback Trinidad Chambliss on the wings and running back Kyren Lacy in the backfield for a direct snap. The snap was errant and Lacy lost ten yards. There is some good news here as the Rebels defense continued its inspired play and sent the Sooners backward, forcing them to take a 42-yard field goal.
Lane Kiffin decided to go for it on their own 25 yard line.
— VIP Play (@VIPPlayTN) October 25, 2025
It failed 😅 pic.twitter.com/yfhSAUERnH
That could've been disastrous, and the Ole Miss fans online were not thrilled with the risk at that moment. They were already a little bent in the first half when Kiffin decided to get cute around the goal line and let Simmons throw a couple of passes that went incomplete.
One has to wonder if all the chatter about the coach heading to Florida isn't getting into his head.
Lane Kiffin is very fortunate to have #OleMiss still up by two scores after that bonehead 4th-down decision, but he gave #Oklahoma three points wrapped in a box with a nice bow on it. He can only hope that doesn't come back to haunt him.
— Wes -- Singin' songs about the Southland... (@CrimsonTideWes) October 25, 2025
This is what always seems to be the issue with Kiffin, especially in the second half of many of his seasons at Ole Miss (and other places). He just can't get out of his own way. Being aggressive is fine and going for a 4th and 1 even that deep at your own end could be excused because it's one yard. But the play call? My goodness.
All that being said, Ole Miss looks great and looks like a legitimate playoff team. They are leading a top-15 opponent in their house. Lacy has two touchdown runs. Chambliss is struggling with this accuracy, hitting only around 50 percent of his passes, but he's got around 200 yards passing and has not turned the ball over.