Lane Kiffin Enjoys Trip Back to Knoxville

By Tim Letcher on October 25, 2014

Lane Kiffin’s return to Knoxville went about as well as he could have imagined. The former head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers returned to Neyland Stadium for the first time on Saturday since he left five years ago to become the head coach of the USC Trojans.

His departure left a bad taste in the mouths of many Tennessee fans, as did Kiffin’s antics while he was the head coach in Knoxville. The NCAA seemed to constantly be investigating Kiffin’s actions while he was at UT, although most of the time it was for minor infractions that didn’t amount to much, and actually worked in Kiffin’s favor many times in the form of free publicity.

On Saturday night, Kiffin came back to Knoxville as the offensive coordinator of the Alabama Crimson Tide. And to say things went well for him, and the Alabama offense, would be an understatement. On the first play from scrimmage, quarterback Blake Sims hit All-American wide receiver Amari Cooper with a screen pass, and Cooper did the rest, racing 80 yards for a score that put the Tide ahead 6-0.

On the second series, it was Sims to Cooper again, this time for 41 yards and from there, the thumping was already taking place for Kiffin and the Tide, who went on to win 34-20 in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score might indicate.

Cooper had a monster game, as Kiffin continually found matchups with Tennessee defensive backs that Cooper could exploit. The junior caught nine passes for 224 yards, with two touchdowns on the night.

The initial onslaught, which all happened within the first 16 plays that Kiffin had scripted for the game, was more than enough for Alabama to beat Tennessee, especially without the Vols’ starting quarterback, Justin Worley, who did not play due to injury.

Kiffin won’t be satisfied with how his offense played on Saturday, but he will enjoy the sweet revenge of getting a win in Knoxville against his former employer.

Tim Letcher is a contributing writer for www.RantSports.com and a member of the Football Writers Association of America. Follow him on Twitter @TimLetcher , on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.