Lane Kiffin appreciates ‘phenomenal’ Rebel crowd in New Orleans, hopes fans also stay until end of upcoming Georgia Tech game
OXFORD, Miss. — College coaches are fond of saying they want their players for all four quarters.
After the Rebels won in New Orleans against Tulane, Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, appreciative of the large Rebel crowd, hopes fans stay in similar fashion for all four quarters this week when Georgia Tech visits Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
“I thought our crowd was phenomenal there, to show up for a road game like that and to stay for the end of the game,” Kiffin said in his Monday press conference.
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“In the late fourth quarter, it felt like the whole stands was Ole Miss (fans), so that was cool to see.It was really energetic. It kind of reminded me of the Egg Bowl two years ago at Mississippi State at the end of the game.”
Lane Kiffin on Ole Miss fans at Tulane game
Kiffin hopes the same enthusiasm will be present in Oxford this week.
“I know The Grove’s awesome, but it would be nice if fans would stay like that to the end of our home games, too,” Kiffin added. “It was cool to see.”
Although Tulane took a lead at halftime, the Rebels bounced back outscoring the Green Wave 30-3 the rest of the way.
Quarterback Jaxson Dart led the way by throwing for 267 yards and a pair of touchdowns to vault the Rebels into the the top 20 of the Associated Press Poll this week.
Now Ole Miss turns its focus to the Yellow Jackets. The Rebels trounced Tech last season in Atlanta, 42-0, in what turned out to be freshman running back Quinshon Judkins’ coming out game. The Pike Road, Ala., native ran for nearly 100 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
In that game, Rebel fans took over Grant Field in Atlanta. Kiffin hopes the home crowd dominates this week.
“I hope we have a really cool environment,” Kiffin said. “I really commend the student section the last home game…especially the freshman class. That’s really cool. Hopefully, the rest of our fans can show up too.”
The game kicks off at 6:30 p.m., and can be seen on the SEC Network.
Steve Barnes
Steve Barnes joins The Rebel Walk staff as a senior writer and brings a trifecta of journalistic experience. As a writer, he has covered college sports for Rivals.com, Football.com and SaturdayDownSouth.com as well as served as a beat writer for various traditional newspapers.
He has been a broadcaster for arena football and several national tournament events for the National Junior College Athletic Association as well as hosting various shows on radio.
A former sports information director at Albany (Ga.) State University and an assistant at Troy and West Florida, he has helped host many NCAA conference, regional and national events, including serving five years on the media committee of the NCAA Division II World Series.
Barnes, a native of Pensacola, Fla., attended Ole Miss in 1983-84, where his first journalism teacher was David Kellum. The duo has come a long way since that time.
He will bring a proven journalistic track record, along with a knack for finding the out-of-the-ordinary story angles to The Rebel Walk.
Barnes continues to reside in Pensacola a mere ten minutes from the beach because he does have taste and a brain.
