ESPN’s Paul Finebaum is back in the anti-Lane Kiffin section after spending two weeks praising for LSU’s start to the 2026 campaign. After Ole Miss beat LSU 32-24 in Kiffin’s first return to Oxford, Finebaum questioned whether the LSU coach’s words and demeanor told the full story.
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“Lane Kiffin is still the same con man he was before he walked into that stadium, and you just saw it right there in living HD,” Finebaum said on ESPN’s First Take on Monday. “I mean, there’s nothing believable about what he said.”
Kiffin left Ole Miss for LSU last November after six seasons with the Rebels. He did not coach Ole Miss in the College Football Playoff after leading the program to an 11-1 regular season, but Saturday marked his first trip back to Oxford since taking the LSU job.
His return ended with a loss. No. 8 Ole Miss beat No. 7 LSU 32-24, surviving a second-half comeback before an interception in the end zone ended the Tigers’ final possession. Finebaum said Kiffin looked uncomfortable throughout the night.
“He had built everything about going into that stadium and showing Ole Miss that he made the right decision,” Finebaum said. “And ultimately he may have made the right decision, but he seemed out of sorts the entire game.”
Finebaum also compared Kiffin’s behavior to his old matchups with legendary coach Nick Saban, saying Kiffin had previously told him that he struggled to control himself when facing the former Alabama coach because he wanted to win so badly.
“He seemed uptight, really more so than any time I had seen him,” Finebaum said.
The game itself gave Kiffin plenty to worry about because LSU fell behind 24-7 in the first half before mounting a comeback, and the Tigers eventually tied the game in the fourth quarter. But Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss responded with a drive that put the Rebels back in front.
Chambliss passed for 363 yards and two touchdowns while also running for the go-ahead score. He led a 75-yard touchdown drive after Ole Miss lost starting running back Kewan Lacy to a shoulder injury, then kept the ball on a 14-yard run for the score.
Ole Miss went for two afterward and converted, taking an eight-point lead with 6:14 left. That decision caught Finebaum’s attention, too. He pointed to Pete Golding, the Ole Miss head coach who took over after Kiffin’s departure, and noted that Golding might not have been viewed as an obvious head-coaching candidate when he was promoted.
Kiffin was left to explain a defeat that had been set up to be a major moment for his new program.
“I’m glad it’s over. This was an emotional game for a lot of reasons,” Kiffin said after the game. “A lot of life-changing experiences here. A lot of really good people that helped me through some really hard times.”
He also acknowledged that the night had been different from a normal game. “Sometimes I don’t act like it, but I’m a human, too,” Kiffin added. “Congrats to those guys. They played really well. They deserved to win.”
Finebaum saw it differently, as he said, “He [Kiffin] almost seemed like a zombie, and his team seemed to be representative of that.”
Kiffin now has to move on from the loss with LSU sitting at 2-1. The Tigers host Texas A&M next Saturday, while Ole Miss takes its unbeaten 3-0 record to Florida.