They had never seen such an event, so somewhat understandably Ole Miss fans botched their storming-the-field celebration Saturday evening.
With Georgia stopped on its final, desperation possession, Ole Miss fans flooded the turf inside Vaught-Hemingway Stadium to celebrate the home team's 28-10 win.
One problem: 16 seconds remained on the clock as fans rushed over the end zone walls and onto the field turf.
Cameras from the ABC broadcast captured Lane Kiffin's reaction to the premature celebration, and Ole Miss's wildly popular, suddenly validated coach with the program's biggest-ever home win was not pleased.
"This is f*****g ridiculous," Kiffin said.
Well this is something you don’t see everyday, Ole miss fans rush the field 16 seconds early before the game ended.#OleMiss pic.twitter.com/mZjFPE56c1
— Dylan (@Dylanwx03) November 10, 2024
Eventually, order was mildly restored, Ole Miss snapped a single play and the celebration commenced in earnest.
Kiffin cited one of his favorite talking points -- it became Georgia's first loss to anyone other than Alabama in more than 50 games -- and also labeled Kirby Smart's Bulldogs as college football's best team.
Happy for our players, for our fans; they put a lot into this season. Really pleased with the way they played today, really clean game against the best team in the country. Hadn't lost in 51 games except to Alabama. Really happy for our fans.
"One year ago we lost to these guys by like 30," Kiffin said in his on-field interview postgame. "We made a decision, gotta go recruit different players, gotta coach them up.
"We've waited for this game for a year."