Lane Kiffin describes his 'torn' reaction to Ole Miss field storming after Georgia win

Ole Miss earned a massive win over the weekend, beating Georgia. For head coach Lane Kiffin, it was arguably the biggest win of his career and fans poured onto the field in storming to celebrate the win.

At his press conference to start the bye week, Kiffin was asked if he got a piece of the goalpost for himself and while he didn’t personally get a piece he did have mixed emotions about the field storming itself.

“Actually, one of Knox’s buddies brought that up last night,” Lane Kiffin said. “Somehow, he had a cutout piece of it. He was knocking on my window last night and I mean it was a chaotic scene. I’m kind of torn on that. Obviously, it’s enjoyable for fans and all that stuff but we also have policies where those aren’t supposed to happen and you’ve got to keep the players safe and the other teams safe.”

The SEC has policies in place to try to limit the number of field storming incidents, in large part to keep athletes and fans from physically interacting and trying to prevent possible injuries. That includes some large fines of $100,000 for a first offense, $250,000 for a second offense, and $500,000 for a third offense. With that, Ole Miss was fined for the field storm.

Beyond that, Ole Miss fans also stormed the field before the game was over, creating a bit of a chaotic scene. There were still 16 seconds left when fans first made their way onto the field, creating a difficult situation for those trying to get off the field.

“So, don’t really like that aspect of it that we’re not doing what we’re supposed to do. So, it was a little frustrating at that point, the game is still going on and it’s happening,” Kiffin said. “I know a lot of people are like, ‘How can you be frustrated? You’re winning the game and game’s over.’ I don’t know. Maybe that was my Coach [Nick] Saban in me there.”

For Ole Miss, this game kept the Rebels alive for the College Football Playoff race. A loss would have, almost certainly, eliminated Ole Miss. On top of that, this was arguably the biggest win for Lane Kiffin as a head coach, having previously dealt with criticism for coming up short in big games.

“It was exciting for him, but I don’t know. I’m kind of torn on that too because the other team’s got to be safe and get off and they can’t,” Kiffin said. “So, I don’t know. I’m sure Kyle has a plan for that. [It’d] be a good problem to be in again.”

This, of course, wasn’t the first time Ole Miss was involved in a field storm this season. Earlier in the year, LSU fans took to the field to celebrate their win over Ole Miss. Certainly, for Lane Kiffin, it’s better to be the winning team in this kind of situation.