Stroll down memory, Lane Orgeron Farewell Tour back where it started

Published 10:51 am Saturday, October 23, 2021

The first stop on the Ed Orgeron Farewell Tour might be the most sentimental for the lame-duck LSU coach.

The Tigers (4-3, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) will drop by No. 12 Ole Miss’ Vaught-Hemingway Stadium this afternoon as a reminder to Orgeron where he got his first head coaching job, enjoyed the fillin’ station chicken-on-a-stick, but flamed out after three seasons.

He lasted into his sixth year at LSU before being fired, oddly enough, following last week’s 49-42 upset of Florida last week.

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But he’ll finish out the season, beginning with the side trip to Oxford, where good friend and Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin is waiting.

“We do have the utmost respect for each other and we do know each other’s and weaknesses,” said Orgeron, who was an assistant on Kiffin’s staffs at Tennessee and Southern Cal, where he replaced Kiffin as interim coach.

“We kind of fed off of it when we coached together,” Orgeron said.

The Tigers might want to buckle up for a roller coaster for the game.

It’s already been a nutty week at LSU, with more scuttlebutt swirling about who the Tigers’ next head coach will be than about one of LSU’s oldest rivalries.

Orgeron is 5-0 against his former school since taking over the LSU program as his dream job, including a crazy 53-48 victory last year in Kiffin’s first season with the Rebels.

But the banged-up Tigers are nine-point underdogs. They lost two more players — right guard Chasen Hines and receiver Deion Smith — in the win over Florida, adding to an already lengthy laundry list that includes wide receiver Kayshon Boutte, who in last year’s Ole Miss game set an SEC record with 308 yards receiving.

But expect plenty of fireworks anyway.

Las Vegas oddsmakers have set the over-under at 66.5 points — the second-highest total (by a half point) for any college game this weekend.

Sounds about right.

The teams have combined to score 257 points in the last three meetings.

LSU looks better equipped for a shootout after suddenly discovering an offensive line that paved the way for more than 321 yards rushing against Florida and a school-record 287 by running back Ty Davis-Price.

Ole Miss (5-1, 2-1) has been doing it all season, mostly behind Heisman hopeful quarterback Matt Corral, who leads the Rebels in both passing and rushing.

Kiffin has been coy this week about Corral’s status as he was banged up after running 30 times in Ole Miss’ 31-26 win over Tennessee last week.

But Orgeron figures Kiffin is bluffing and said he expects to face the quarterback who in last year’s game passed for 257 yards and three touchdowns while also running for 158 yards and a score.

“He feeds off the energy of the game,” Orgeron said of Corral. “Quarterback draws, the quarterback runs, him just extending plays with his feet. Whatever it takes … if he’s not the best player in the country, he’s one of the best.”