The Ole Miss Rebels resorted to some unusual motivational tactics ahead of Saturday’s Peach Bowl game against Penn State.
Prior to the game, Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin reposted on X a post that claimed to be from a Penn State fan. The account claimed to have overheard Nittany Lions players calling the Rebel offensive line “soft.” The post claimed that Penn State planned to exploit the perceived weakness by going after Ole Miss linemen Jeremy James and Caleb Warren.
https://twitter.com/WEARE_PENNST23/status/1740857743848669189
The account in question sent several other disrespectful messages, including one containing a fake quote attributed to Penn State linebacker Kobe King saying that the Nittany Lions were going to “embarrass” Ole Miss. Kiffin reposted all of the posts.
Suspicious Penn State fans did some digging and discovered that the email address linked to the account was suspiciously similar to that of Fisher Ray, a student assistant on Kiffin’s offensive staff.
Was the whole thing a hoax? Well, yes.
Kiffin confirmed as much after the game, saying Ray had showed him the account — and the Penn State detective work — on Friday night. Kiffin did not object because he thought it was funny.
Ole Miss HC Lane Kiffin just confirmed that the account below was a troll account creates by student assistant Fisher Ray.
Kiffin said he was made aware of this last night and that Ray showed the account to him & how Penn State fans figured it out.
Kiffin thought it was funny. https://t.co/q8ZShiZanw
— Justin Williams (@Williams_Justin) December 30, 2023
Considering how Kiffin has been known to use social media, it’s almost surprising that he wasn’t the one running the account himself. There was no way this was ever going to bother him.
As for the game, Ole Miss won 38-25. Ray’s attempt at reverse motivation probably had nothing to do with it, but he can at least know that he riled up some Penn State fans.
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