Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin slams Wake Forest for violating ‘unwritten rule,’ backing out of series after loss

Posted by author September 17, 2024 Sports

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Lane Kiffin is not happy with Wake Forest.

Days after No. 5 Ole Miss cruised to a 40-6 win over the Demon Deacons, Kiffin is still upset with the university for canceling the back half of their scheduled home-and-home series. The two schools were set to play again next season in Oxford, Mississippi, but Wake Forest has since backed out.

“That’s rarely ever done,” Kiffin said Monday, via The Associated Press. “I’ve never really heard of doing it, and it really puts us at a big disadvantage. It is what it is. It obviously wasn’t appreciated very much, them putting us in that situation.

“Now we’ve got to go find somebody and most people are all scheduled up. And even when you find somebody, you’ve got to go pay them. It’s kind of an unwritten rule not to do that, actually.”

It’s unclear why Wake Forest opted to back out of the second game in the series. According to The Associated Press, the school is closing in on an alternative scheduling option. The university has not commented publicly on the details.

Kiffin first announced the issue after their win on Saturday, and that he only learned of Wake Forest’s decision the week of their game.

“I find it amazing that you wait until the week of the game to tell the team,” he said.

Ole Miss will now have to try and find a comparable opponent for next season, or seek a waiver from the SEC to schedule a non-Power 4 school or major independent team. Wake Forest was the Rebels’ only non-SEC Power 4 school on their schedule next season.

“That’s not what we want to do, but they may have put us in an unavoidable situation not to,” Kiffin said of the waiver.

Ole Miss will host Georgia Southern next on Saturday (7:45 p.m. ET, SEC Network). The Rebels enter that contest at 3-0 on the year, and they’ve outscored their opponents a combined 168-9 without giving up a touchdown. Quarterback Jaxson Dart went 26-of-34 for 377 yards with two touchdowns and an interception in the win over Wake Forest, and running back Henry Parrish Jr. had 133 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries.