Breakups are hard.
There's no right way to tell someone you're moving on, to put a hard stop on a thing that, at some point, felt like it had a promising future. Feelings get hurt, tempers flair, no one comes out the other side looking good. As Tom Cruise rightly noted in the cinematic masterpiece "Cocktail," everything ends badly, otherwise it wouldn't end.
And, of course, no one does breakups as badly as Lane Kiffin.
Tennessee fans still keep a stash of golf balls and plastic mustard bottles at the ready, just in case there's a Kiffin sighting within 30 miles of Knoxville.
Somewhere, there's a Kiffin-related support group that meets on an airport tarmac and shares motivational messages on an overhead projector.
Now, Ole Miss is the latest to sit alone in a darkened room listening to Journey's "Faithfully" on repeat, wondering how it all went so wrong.
As with all breakups, the losing side goes through the typical stages of grief -- anger, denial, bargaining, the Sugar Bowl -- before arriving at acceptance. That's the goal at Ole Miss now, with Pete Golding at the helm and the No. 8 ranking next to its name. It's OK. The Rebels have moved on. They're ready for a bright new future, stronger for the experience.
Except for this week.
"To get through Week 3, to get that game behind us," Ole Miss AD Keith Carter said, "the hope is it can put some closure on all that saga, all that drama."
Ah, yes, the drama.
Nothing stymies a breakup recovery quite like bumping into your ex at a party, there with a new partner, who's also probably a doctor or a lawyer or Trey'Dez Green. Then all the emotional maturity developed in the months since the breakup goes out the window, and all that's left is a game of one-upmanship to prove who's happier with their new lives.
In other words, Saturday's LSU-Ole Miss showdown in Oxford is going to be saltier than the oysters at Snackbar.
This game has been hyped since the moment Kiffin boarded that plane bound for Baton Rouge, and that's often a recipe for disappointment. When does a matchup with this much anticipation ever live up to expectations?
And yet, when has Kiffin ever done anything less but deliver the goods when there's an opportunity to steal the show? He's Maximus at the center of the Coliseum, holding the carcass of Clemson's football program and shouting, "Are you not entertained?"
Ole Miss, too, seems poised for this moment. Trinidad Chambliss led the Rebels past Louisville in the opener, ensuring a top-10 matchup for Kiffin's return. It is Ole Miss, of course, that was within a breath of the national championship game last season, winning two playoff games without its former coach on the sideline. And had Kiffin not abandoned ship, had he not toyed with Ole Miss about which assistant coaches could stick around for the postseason, had he not been working the phones to lure a cache of his former players to LSU -- perhaps the Rebels would've beaten Miami in the Fiesta Bowl, toppled Indiana in the title game, and hoisted the championship trophy at year's end.
Ole Miss will never know the answer to that "what if," which is why Saturday is about so much more than simply proving the best revenge is living well.
Kiffin didn't just spurn Ole Miss, after all.
He had a likely playoff team. He was getting paid. He had a coaching staff that wanted to stick together. He had made Ole Miss into a destination, then stared out across the fence to a greener pasture he found utterly irresistible.
A kinder man might have offered the "it's not you, it's me" routine. Kiffin made it clear -- it's you.
In LSU, Kiffin saw a fast track to the type of legacy held by only a small few college coaches, including two who had mentored him in Pete Carroll and Nick Saban. Both urged him to take the job.
In Ole Miss, Kiffin saw a place that had reached its apex, that was playing with house money, that could never appreciate the more refined air he'd tasted at USC and Alabama.
That's what's at stake for the Rebels on Saturday. It's not just about getting a little revenge, though if someone wanted to pull the fire alarm at Kiffin's hotel at 3 a.m., no one's going to ask too many questions. No, this is about proving that Kiffin was wrong about Ole Miss, wrong about what college football's hierarchy in this new era of player movement and revenue sharing is, wrong not about who the Rebels were, but about what they could become.
That's the other thing about breakups. It can be the start of a long slide into oblivion, or it can be the spark that lights up a far brighter future.
Jump to:
Top games | Under-the-radar
Upset alert | Power rankings
Heisman five | Two-minute drill
The rest of this week's headliners
Florida State's trip to Tuscaloosa to take on Alabama feels like just the right time to go ahead and move Mike Novell's office down to subbasement C and talk to payroll about halting his direct deposits.
A year ago, the Seminoles' stunning upset of Alabama in Week 1 seemed to be Norvell getting the program back on track after a miserable 2024. Instead, it was a blip, and FSU finished 5-7, missing a bowl for the second straight year. (And based on sheer player attendance, most Noles missed the 2023 postseason, too.)
Things are bleak in Tallahassee, with the school making the first step toward admitting defeat this week when it fired athletics director Michael Alford. A lack of fundraising for talent acquisition seemed Alford's primary crime, though that hardly explains the losses to schools such as Memphis and Stanford.
Nowhere has the lack of investment proved more dramatic than at QB. Jordan Travis was a star for Florida State, but when it was time to turn the page, the Seminoles whiffed. A finalist to land Cam Ward in 2024, the future No. 1 draft pick proved too rich for FSU's blood. He went to Miami, and the Noles went 2-10. A year later, they brought in Thomas Castellanos to run Gus Malzahn's offense. It didn't work. This year, they have Ashton Daniels, another bargain-bin add, and the offense is sputtering.
Set aside Travis, and all FSU quarterbacks since Jameis Winston left town after 2014 have combined to complete 58% of their throws, have 154 touchdowns and 104 turnovers, and have accounted for a woeful 45.1 QBR. And the ones who haven't won consistent starting jobs -- Chubba Purdy, Tate Rodemaker, AJ Duffy, Brock Glenn and Luke Kromenhoek -- all transferred only to find even worse outcomes. As a group, QBs recruited out of high school by Norvell are a combined 2-23 vs. FBS opponents as starters, 0-15 after leaving FSU.
So what's the best-case scenario for Florida State in Week 3?
Another win over Alabama probably isn't changing any hearts and minds. Before Week 1's matchup against SMU, fans were chanting "We want Jimbo," begging for the return of a coach who betrayed them back in 2017. Seems doubtful Ole Miss fans will ever be chanting for Kiffin -- no matter how bad things get in Oxford down the road. But that's where we are at with Florida State. Anything seems better than the current mess. (Well, maybe not Willie Taggart. At least Norvell doesn't have his players wearing turnover backpacks.)
Instead, odds are Florida State will lose to Alabama, and then the end seems inevitable. Central Arkansas is next, followed by three straight ranked foes -- Virginia, Louisville and Miami.
The writing is on the wall, and it reads: "Send help."
Alex Golesh and Jon Sumrall have both injected new life into dormant SEC programs, and both are chasing conference win No. 1 here. Florida has scored 117 points in its first two games, just a touchdown shy of what it had mustered over its final six in 2025 and roughly double what Florida fans remember scoring during the entirety of the Will Muschamp era. Auburn's defense should be a much tougher test though. Tigers opponents have picked up a first down on just a tick more than half their offensive drives. The winner gets the inside track on getting their hopes up before an inevitable mid-October collapse.
Texas A&M QB Marcel Reed has thrown at least one interception in 13 of his 17 career starts vs. Power 4 opponents, and two of the clean games came against Arkansas' defense, which shouldn't really count. Meanwhile, Kentucky has lost 21 of its past 26 vs. Power 4 competition, scoring 21 or less in 20 of those games.
It's the battle to see who'll play Miami in this year's ACC championship game. OK, that's unfair. Miami has only been to one ACC championship game, and nothing should be assumed about the Canes' ability to navigate the conference slate without having an anvil fall on their heads or running into the side of a mountain that had been painted to look like a train tunnel. Regardless, SMU's Kevin Jennings and Louisville's Lincoln Kienholz have combined for 15 touchdowns so far this season.
There are three matchups between ranked teams this week: Kiffin's return, SMU-Louisville and this one. Texas Tech dominated last year's matchup, handing Houston its first loss of 2025, holding the Cougars to their worst offensive output of the season and making Conner Weigman look like he was still being coached by Jimbo Fisher.
Under-the-radar matchups of the week
Friday night marks Miami's first trip to Wake Forest since 2009. How long ago was that? Malachi Toney had just turned 2 years old (though we assume he still would've had six catches for 104 yards and a score in that game if he had been allowed to play). Wake surrendered 455 yards to Purdue last week, the most the Deacons have allowed under Jake Dickert. Miami posted nearly twice that total last week against Florida A&M (856).
Jared Curtis is set to get his first start for Vanderbilt. The former five-star recruit heralded a new era of Vandy football, when the program could compete for top talent. This follows the pre-Clark Lea era of Vandy football when the program mostly acquired talent at a Dollar General outside Pigeon Forge.
Virginia Tech is 2-0 under James Franklin and, for the first time in a long time, there's real enthusiasm about the product on the field.
VMI and ODU aren't exactly the standard Virginia Tech is aiming for but...
— 💫🅰️♈️🆔 (@ADavidHaleJoint) September 13, 2026
Hokies have scored 117 points in 2 games.
Last year, they had 35 through 2 games.
When VT scored its 117th point by year:
2025 - Game 5
2024 - 4
2023 - 5
2022 - 6
2021 - 5
2020 - 3
2019 - 4
Maryland head coach Mike Locksley might have a little revenge on his mind though. The last time the Terps faced off against Franklin, he ran up the score with a TD pass on the final play of a 44-7 blowout. That goes against a long understood unwritten rule of college football that nobody gets to embarrass Maryland on the field other than Maryland.
Upset alert
Last week, we had Illinois on upset alert, and the Illini fell to Duke. Wake Forest and Tulsa both came down to the final drive. Who should be looking over their shoulders in Week 3?
Clemson (home vs. North Carolina)
How bad are things at Clemson? Let us count the ways.
Through 2 games (LSU, GaSo) Clemson's offense has 37 total yards before contact on designed runs (130th), avg 3.3 y/rush (132), has 0 3D conversions on the ground, 38% of runs stopped for loss/no gain (138), avg 4.6 yd/dropback (130), 8.7% sack rate (124) & has a successful play...
— 💫🅰️♈️🆔 (@ADavidHaleJoint) September 14, 2026
Dabo Swinney is officially turning to freshman Tait Reynolds at QB, though he has shown little other than being marginally better than Christopher Vizzina. Reynolds has at least shown some flashes -- nine explosive plays with him at QB, compared to just two with Vizzina -- but with a dismal offensive line and facing a strong Tar Heels pass rush, Clemson is on the verge of doing something that seemed impossible just a few weeks ago: Making Bill Belichick look good at North Carolina.
A Week 3 road trip to a Group of 6 school. What could go wrong? Since the start of last year, the Group of 6 has just 16-131 (.109 winning percentage) against the Power 4 during the regular season. But nearly all those games came on the road, where the G6 is 6-116 (.053). At home, they've actually been pretty competent, with a 10-15 record, including Tulsa's win over Oklahoma State in Week 1. And don't miss Rams QB Hauss Hejny, who's off to a terrific start with 10 touchdowns and just one turnover.
Arizona State (vs. Kansas in London)
Sun Devils coach Kenny Dillingham isn't thrilled about traveling abroad in Week 3, despite his last name being British slang for a club sandwich. Kansas didn't look great against Missouri, but strange things can happen in games like this. Let's just hope Kansas doesn't start any international incidents by showing a pregame hype video making fun of General Cornwallis' hair.
Week 2 power rankings
The best of what we've seen in college football over the past week.
1. 2-0 UMass
2. Arch Manning, but only after everyone gives up on him
3. Alabama
4. Chances of Bill Belichick starting 3-0
5. Michigan in the final 15:01 of games
6. The under in every CyHawk game
7. Tennessee
8. Wagner getting two second-quarter stops to hold James Madison under 100
9. BYU
10. Fans calling plays
Unranked: Manning when everyone believes in him; Clemson; players executing fan-called plays; history lessons as pregame hype videos; top-15 teams starting with "O"
Heisman five
Our top contenders for college football's biggest award, based on the first two weeks of the season.
1. Miami QB Darian Mensah
Through two games, Mensah is completing 91.1% of his throws with eight touchdowns, four incompletions and no interceptions, and he's averaging 14.5 yards per pass. He has thrown for more yards on just 45 attempts than 25 FBS programs have totaled in two games.
2. USC QB Jayden Maiava
Maiava has thrown for 10 touchdowns to just one pick through three games, but he gets his first Power 4 test this week and ... oh, we're sorry, it's just Rutgers. Never mind.
3. Mississippi State QB Kamario Taylor
Taylor went to Minnesota and utterly dominated in Week 2, averaging better than 10 yards per pass and totaling 313 yards and three touchdowns in the win. Officials quickly huddled afterward to review the rule book, but it turns out it had not been illegal for Big Ten teams other than Ohio State to have a QB that can do that.
4. Texas QB Arch Manning
Manning is college football's Columbo. For a while, he just seems like a daffy, mop-haired pest, but just when Ohio State thinks it has a game won or Robert Culp thinks he has gotten away with that art heist, Manning stops, cocks his head and chimes in with an, "Oh, just one more thing," before proceeding to unravel the entire case. He probably looks great in a rumpled trench coat, too.
5. Duke running back Nate Sheppard
Sheppard leads the nation with 434 scrimmage yards and is just a yard shy of the FBS lead in rushing at 374, leading Duke to a 2-0 start and inspiring Miami coach Mario Cristobal to whip out his checkbook and ask, "How many 'Ps' in 'Sheppard?'"
Two-minute drill
It has been a rough start for the Group of 6, which went winless in matchups with the Power 4 in Week 2 and is now just 2-43. But if you think that's bad, check out how the FCS teams have fared. They were 0-16 vs. the Power 4 last week, losing, on average, by nearly 50 points. The FCS hasn't won a game vs. Power 4 opponents this year. Or last year. Or the year before that. In fact, FCS teams are on a 209-game losing streak to the Power 4 dating back to 2022. On the upside, Portland State gets Oregon this week, and the Ducks seem open to snapping long losing streaks lately.
UMass is looking to start 3-0 this week, and though it has hardly been a gauntlet -- two FCS opponents, including Stonehill this week, and Rutgers -- it's still historic for the Minutemen. UMass has only won three games total in a season once since 2018, hasn't had a three-game winning streak at any point in a season since 2009 when it was still an FCS program and hasn't won three straight to open a season in at least 30 years.
Nate Frazier has carried the ball 10 times for Georgia. Four have resulted in touchdowns. Georgia takes on an Arkansas team in Week 3 that has already surrendered six rushing touchdowns in two games against North Alabama and Utah.
Notre Dame is a heavy favorite against Michigan State this week, but is it too soon to worry about the Irish run game? After sending two first-rounders to the NFL off last year's running back depth chart, Notre Dame is averaging just 3.8 yards-per-designed run so far -- 119th nationally -- despite two easy wins.
Deion Sanders can get off to a 3-0 start with a win at Northwestern in Week 3. He has done it largely by running the ball. Colorado has 81 rush attempts through two games -- 23 more than last season and the most through two games by any Colorado team since 2020. Sadly, the more ground-and-pound attack has really messed with Prime's Instagram algorithm, dropping his likes considerably and filling his feed with videos of baffled influencers trying to explain the wing-T.
Through two games, Virginia QB Beau Pribula has more touchdown passes (5) than incompletions (4). Of course, he has also only needed to throw 25 passes so far. Virginia hosts West Virginia in Week 3, and the Mountaineers have allowed just 5.1 yards-per-scramble vs. Power 4 opponents run since the start of last season, No. 7 among Power 4 defenses.
North Dakota State heads to Sacramento State in a battle of the two newest FBS programs. The Bison were FBS targets for years after dominating the FCS ranks for much of the past decade. The Hornets moved up this year thanks to a concerted marketing effort, a willingness to forego significant revenue distributions and a promise to be Ball State's best friend.
