Lane Kiffin did not predict a victory for his 12th-ranked Ole Miss squad over No. 1 Alabama, but anyone watching his pre-game interview with CBS certainly came away thinking Kiffin felt assured his team was about to shock the world.
After CBS's Jamie Erdahl asked if he had any surprises in store for his old boss, Kiffin concluded his answer by saying, "Here we go, get your popcorn ready." He then took his headset off, literally dropped the mic, stared into the camera and jogged away as Erdahl formed her follow-up.
Watch this and tell me this isn't the cockiest flipping thing you've ever seen.
"Get your popcorn ready." - Lane Kiffin 🍿 pic.twitter.com/ZDdr60cjuj
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) October 2, 2021
You can even hear Brad Nessler pipe in with a "Whoa!" at the end, channeling what his entire audience was thinking. If a coach pulled this move in a movie, you and I would confidently remark to our viewing partners, "Pssh, that would never happen in real life."
As we know, it didn't turn out so well for Lane and company. Ole Miss accepted the ball to open the game and promptly moved 59 yards in 16 plays, converting a 4th-and-3 and a 4th-and-2 until the third time wasn't the charm, when running back Jerrion Ealy was stuffed on 4th-and-1 at the Alabama 6.
The Tide moved 94 yards to open the scoring, and Ole Miss didn't dent the scoreboard until midway through the third quarter, when Alabama already had 35 points.
The entire game was a 4-hour serving of humble pie, delivered by Big Al himself during the game.
On Monday, Kiffin brought his knife and fork and dutifully ate his share (via Michael Katz).
"It looks like we didn't plug the microwave in" is a great line. So Lane's got that going for him, which is nice.
Ole Miss, now ranked 17th, returns home to face No. 13 Arkansas in the Licking Our Wounds Bowl on Saturday (noon ET, ESPN).