The list of high-profile SEC football coaches who have had success against Kentucky during their careers is not short.
But it would be hard to find anyone who has been as adept at handling UK’s losses in a particularly heartbreaking way as Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin.
Kiffin won all three of his meetings with the Wildcats as coach of Tennessee and Ole Miss by one possession. Two of those victories came in overtime.
“I don’t know if I’d overstate it because every year is different and our teams have changed a lot,” Kiffin said Sunday when asked about the recent close games against Kentucky. “That doesn’t mean it won’t come down to the last play this time around, but I think both of our teams are different than they were a couple of years ago.”
However, even if the sample size isn’t great, history has shown that Kiffin’s teams have made plays in key moments that Kentucky couldn’t.
To top it off, while he was offensive coordinator at Alabama, Kiffin led the charge Quarterback Mac Jones’ turnaround from the United Kingdom to the Crimson Tide. Jones went on to lead Alabama to the national championship before being drafted in the first round of the NFL draft by the New England Patriots.
Here’s a more detailed look at Kiffin’s history in relation to Kentucky.
Tennessee 30, Kentucky 24 (November 27, 2009)
In Kiffin’s only season as Tennessee’s head coach, he brought a 6-5 Volunteers team to Lexington for a senior night game that was considered UK’s best chance in some time to end what was then a 24-game losing streak in the series.
Earlier in the season, Kentucky had won its first game at Georgia in 32 years. Tennessee had been beaten 42-17 at Ole Miss two weeks earlier.
Kentucky led 21-14 at halftime behind a standout performance from Tennessee native Randall Cobb, but gained just 80 yards of offense in the second half. When a Tennessee fumble gave Kentucky possession with 2:21 left at the Volunteers’ 37-yard line, the Wildcats couldn’t find the end zone for a potential game-winning touchdown, settling instead for a 23-yard field goal to send the game into overtime.
Rich Brooks’ Wildcats got the ball back first in overtime but were quickly thwarted before Lones Seiber missed a 49-yard field goal attempt. Three plays later, Tennessee running back Montario Hardesty scored the winning touchdown on a 20-yard run.
Ole Miss 42, Kentucky 41 (October 3, 2020)
Playing in front of just 12,000 fans due to COVID-19 restrictions in the second game of the 2020 season, Kentucky led 28-14 five minutes into the second half before giving up three straight touchdowns to Ole Miss.
Kentucky tied the score at 35 on a 1-yard Chris Rodriguez run with 2:04 left in regulation and opened overtime with a 10-yard touchdown run by quarterback Terry Wilson, but kicker Matt Ruffolo missed the extra point attempt. When Ole Miss tied UK’s touchdown on its first possession of overtime, it took just a Luke Logan extra point to secure the victory.
“Ever since I got here, he’s been saying Coach Kiffin owes Ruffolo a present for missing a kick,” linebacker Jacquez Jones joked later after transfer from Ole Miss to Kentucky“I can’t do anything but thank Ruffolo for this match.”
Ole Miss 22, Kentucky 19 (October 6, 2022)
In fact, Kentucky entered the last game against Kiffin as the higher-ranked team at No. 7 in the Associated Press Top 25, but Kiffin and the 14th-ranked Rebels still prevailed thanks in part to Two failures of Will Levis in the fourth quarter.
The second of those fumbles came one play after what appeared to be a game-winning touchdown pass from Levis to Dane Key with 58 seconds remaining was negated by an illegal movement penalty. Special teams were again an issue as Ruffolo had an extra point blocked and another point-after attempt ruined by a bad snap. Ruffolo also missed a field goal earlier in the game, and UK took a safety after punt returner Tayvion Robinson allowed a kick to bounce at the UK 1-yard line.
After UK offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello said earlier in the week that his offense was designed to handle pressure, Ole Miss was credited with nine tackles for loss and three sacks. On one of those tackles, Levis took a kick to the turf that would derail his final season at UK.
“They were motivated all week by their offensive coordinator telling them to bring the blitz and we’re going to light them up,” Kiffin said in the postgame interview with ESPN. “And that’s it.”
For Brock Vandagriff, the ‘starting QB test’ has proven very difficult
Britain’s Dane Key makes statement against Ohio with his best Sydney McLaughlin impersonation
Oxford is a nice town, but Kentucky football’s SEC opener is no pleasure trip
Know your opponent: Kentucky will try to break through again against Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss
