Paul Finebaum happy for Lane Kiffin after leading Ole Miss to victory over LSU

People in Oxford were not pleased with Lane Kiffin after he and Ole Miss fell short to Alabama in a spot where they could have caught the Tide. Now, many, including Paul Finebaum, are behind him again after picking up a signature win with the Rebels over LSU.

Finebaum sang Kiffin’s praises during ‘The Matt Barrie Show’ on Sunday after No. 20 Ole Miss won a wild, 55-49 shootout over No. 13 LSU on Saturday night. If nothing else, he says he’s glad that Kiffin was able to respond with an outcome like this following a week of some criticism.

“I’m happy for him. It’s easy to criticize him. And I did, and everyone else did as well, for losing to Nick Saban and playing games. Maybe he feels like he has to do something more than just go on the football field. But, against LSU, he was quiet all week,” said Finebaum. “I think he was motivated by the criticism and he delivered. He showed why he has the reputation he does.”

Ole Miss was phenomenal on offense as they scored seven touchdowns and scored six of them in the first and fourth quarters. That allowed them to start and finish strong while, with 706 yards of offense, always having an answer, or at least enough of them, to take down the 13th-ranked Tigers.

Kiffin is a well-known personality for what he says and what he does from time to time. However, with this victory, Finebaum says he reminded several people that he’s also a heck of a football coach as well.

“When the stars are aligned, he shows out as one of the best coaches in the country,” said Finebaum.

“I’m really happy for him. I think the guy means well in spite of all the theatrics and the antics. He just tries to find an edge and he finally found it last night.”

Finebaum: Kiffin picked up a ‘signature’ win

On Sunday, Paul Finebaum discussed his reaction to Ole Miss‘ massive home victory over LSU.

Looking around at the SEC West and the conference as a whole, there’s really a path for the Rebels — and a slew of other squads — to make a run to the SEC Championship, especially with Alabama a little bit down. To be fair, Ole Miss has already lost to Alabama. Still, with just one loss and a number of tests awaiting the Tide, that’s not an insurmountable deficit.

In fact, Matt Barrie said that Ole Miss “find(s) themselves very much alive in a wide open SEC West. Finebaum agreed as the drastic improvement on offense for Lane Kiffin’s group stunned him.

“It was certainly one of the great reversal of fortunes we’ve ever seen,” he said. “Because, a week ago, that team could not have looked any more ineffective. Lane Kiffin dialed up everything correctly.”

Finebaum then issued a strong statement about what the win means for Kiffin’s career in Oxford.

“I mean, I have to say: This was his signature win at Ole Miss. One of the most significant wins he has had, really, in his career. And it just so happened, Matt, for it to come 10 years to the day that he was fired at USC. I mean, there’s there’s some bizarre irony there.”

It was a long road for Kiffin to get here but Saturday’s victory was certainly one of the crowning moments of his head coaching career. It was perhaps even his signature win with the Rebels as Finebaum suggests.