Rebel Rewind: The Ole Miss Tim Tebow? Robert Lane and what could have (or perhaps should have) been

Robert Lane’s time had finally come. 

He was a former Top 100 recruit. One of, if not the top, dual-threat quarterbacks in the nation coming of Neville High School. A projected top-two-round selection in the MLB Draft had he chosen baseball. 

But Lane had chosen football. In fact, Ole Miss and its head coach (David Cutcliffe) with a reputation as a quarterback whisperer. Cutcliffe made a long and decorated college coaching career out of his close association and development of the Manning quarterbacks — first at Tennessee with Peyton, and later at Ole Miss with Eli. 

But as good as Cutcliffe was/is, he was quite stubborn to his preferred type under center. Why wouldn’t he be? He turned both Mannings into Heisman finalists and No. 1 overall NFL Draft selections. NFL Hall of Famers. Cotton Bowl Hall of Famers. Each a two-time Super Bowl winner. Eli was MVP for both of his with the New York Giants.

But Cutcliffe could never really figure out what to do with Michael Spurlock, himself a multi-year NFL veteran. He never figured out what to do with Lane, either.

Well, until it was too late.

Lane was before his time.

He had essentially the high-school-recruiting profile of Tim Tebow, but in the early-2000s, before Tim Tebows existed in college football. Tebow became a legend at Florida mostly lowering his shoulder into defenders and plowing over them — instead of dropping the perfect dime of a pass into the breadbasket of his receiver 60 yards downfield.

Cutcliffe had Spurlock AND Lane as quarterback options to replace Manning in 2004. The Rebels, the year prior, had won 10 games. They’d reached the Cotton Bowl for the first time in over 40 years, with Manning led them to a thrilling win over Oklahoma State. 

The follow-up campaign, however, was a disaster.

Mostly because Cutcliffe couldn’t figure out what to do under center.

He tried Ethan Flatt — a dollar-store-brand Manning clone. The results were … lacking. Spurlock and Lane needed designed runs in their offenses to succeed. Cutcliffe, unfortunately, expected personnel to adapt to his system and not the other way around.

Or essentially the exact opposite of college football in 2023.

But Cutcliffe had his reasons, and few in college football were doing offense better than him.

Still, the season was over and he’d had an epiphany.

A sudden spark of inspiration. The error of his ways made clear.

Lane played six games his redshirt freshman season, including an Egg Bowl where he accounted for 205 yards of total offense and led Ole Miss to a win.

He completed 10 of 17 passes for 108 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He also carried 16 times for 97 yards and one touchdown.

Find a more Tim Tebow stat line. You can’t.

“The Egg Bowl, that last game, I remember (former Ole Miss offensive coordinator and quarterbacks) coach (Kurt) Roper said, ‘Man, we didn’t know what we had,’” Lane recalled, in a previous interview with the Ole Miss Spirit. 

“He called my dad (and) said, ‘Man, we messed up. We didn’t know what we had in Robert. We’re about to change the offense this spring. Robert’s the guy. We’re about to build the offense (around him) and go shotgun. We’re about to spread it out and let him run it 12-18 times a game and throw it also.’”

Cutcliffe, of course, never got another season.

He was fired following his first-ever losing season (4-7) at Ole Miss, as well as an historic regular season that saw the Rebels (9-3, 7-1 SEC) finish as SEC West co-champions. The Cotton Bowl was their sixth bowl in seven years. 

The win over in-state rival Mississippi State was their third in a row. Ed Orgeron was hired to replace Cutcliffe and the rest is some of the ugliest on-field (and occasional off-field) history Ole Miss football has or ever will produce.

“I don’t think (Ole Miss) watched me much as a recruit or studied who I was as a player,” Lane said. “They knew I was a top-rated quarterback, but I don’t think they thought they had a shot to get me. 

“So they didn’t see me play in high school. I don’t ever remember an Ole Miss coach coming to one of my high-school football games. I don’t think they really knew what I had. As a freshman, you have Eli as quarterback. They’re of course worried about that season and coaching Eli. He was a Heisman Trophy finalist, you know? I spent more time with the defensive coaches than the offensive coaches in practice.”

Lane was moved to tight end and caught 47 passes for 517 yards and a touchdown over his last three seasons. He got some quarterback snaps, but only the limited and gimmicky kind.

He’s mostly remembered for what might have been. What he COULD have been.

RELATED: Rebel Rewind: The time Ole Miss’ Marshay Green got the last laugh on Michael Crabtree

What Ole Miss possibly missed out on.

“Man, it was a hard pill to swallow,” Lane said of the position switch. “But with the coaching transition and everything, I could pretty much see the writing on the wall. It was either switch to tight end or go somewhere else. Going somewhere else really wasn’t an option for me because I loved Ole Miss and Oxford so much. I just wanted to play and try to help us be better as a football team. We weren’t very good at that time. 

“I had a great time (and) played a ton all the way from when I was a sophomore through when I was a senior. Fortunate enough not to get hurt. I really enjoyed learning the new position. Most people can’t say they threw a touchdown in the SEC, scored a (rushing) touchdown in the SEC and caught a touchdown in the SEC. I’m one of those people.

“I think it made me tougher. I can remember lining up against Alabama. It was my sophomore year and I’m going, ‘What in the world am I doing?’ I’m about to go block this 6-foot-5, 290-pound defensive end and last year I was playing quarterback. 

“It was definitely an experience, but it was a good experience looking back on it.”