The Ole Miss Rebels have been one of the most scrutinized programs in the country, and for good reason.
Under Lane Kiffin's guidance, Ole Miss has itself set up to compete for a potential at-large berth in the 12-team College Football Playoff, but the Rebels have also been the subject of much controversy.
Throughout the season, Ole Miss players have been spotted falling down after plays, prompting many fans to accuse the program of "faking injuries" in a ploy to slow down the game and stop the clock. While Lane Kiffin has denied this, there have been multiple egregious examples throughout the year that seem to be hard to overlook.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey addressed the controversy of having players "fake injuries," calling teams to stop the nonsense.
"As plainly as it can be stated: Stop any and all activity related to faking injuries to create time-outs," Sankey wrote in the memo obtained by ESPN.
In the memo, Sankey shared that their will be punishment for teams that continue to try and use the tactic, including fines and, eventually, a suspension of the head coach if there are three offenses. With that being highlighted, some college football fans believe that Lane Kiffin has stooped to a new low in an attempt to delay games.
During the first half of the Georgia-Ole Miss game, the teams had a short delay for a critter who made his way onto the field. Of course, this isn't the first time that a squirrel has appeared in Oxford. Fans at home were quick to jump on a conspiracy theory that Kiffin himself is planting the squirrels as a way to offset no longer being able to "flop."
Kiffin can’t use injuries anymore so he’s keeping squirrels in his pocket to release pic.twitter.com/OasKNMxpbe
— Transfer Portal (@NCAAPortal) November 9, 2024
Lane Kiffin is absolutely releasing squirrels on the field instead of faking injuries now and it’s absolutely genius
— Matt Mitchell (@ALostrich) November 9, 2024
@Lane_Kiffin is actually gonna make the SEC release a statement regarding penalties for squirrel incidents now. 🤦
— An0malee (@An0malee) November 9, 2024
Lane Kiffin has a remote control squirrel. Change my mind. https://t.co/3UYrQ2MAkG
— Austin (@AustinElite35) November 9, 2024
While this conspiracy theory might have legs with a select few on social media, it would take an elaborate scheme of epic proportions for this to actually be true.
However, we'd be absolutely okay with the SEC releasing another memo warning about using squirrels as tactics for delaying games.
Ole Miss leads Georgia 16-7 at halftime. The Rebels, already with two losses, need this win to stay alive in the College Football Playoff conversation.