Is Ole Miss being proactive or overreactive earlier than Saturday's extensively anticipated matchup with LSU and the return of head coach Lane Kiffin to Oxford?
The reception by Rebels followers towards their former coach who spurned them earlier than the top of final season presents an intriguing backdrop for a recreation that was already significant with the No. 7 and No. 8 groups in 5 going through one another.
Fearing any doable incidents amongst followers or outbursts directed at Kiffin and the LSU workforce, Ole Miss is taking steps to stop something untoward from occurring. On Thursday, the college introduced that followers wouldn’t be allowed to put on the "opposing workforce's gear or colours" in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium for Saturday's recreation.
"Efficient instantly, no particular person carrying an opposing workforce's gear or colours will likely be allowed entrance into the scholar part," learn a press release despatched to college students by the Ole Miss athletic division (X).
"Moreover, anybody discovered to be carrying opposing workforce attire or colours within the scholar part will likely be eliminated."
One other measure Ole Miss has taken is constructing a fence across the space the place the visiting workforce buses arrive on the stadium on gameday, s.
These two initiatives comply with Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry joking that n to guard Kiffin and the LSU workforce throughout their journey to Oxford.
"I'm eager about having to ship him in on an F-16 and possibly the workforce on a C-130," h. "Safety goes to be actually tight. You recognize, we’d want the Nationwide Guard on the market to guard our workforce. I believe it's going to be an attention-grabbing weekend."
Landry added that his workplace has talked to Ole Miss officers about making certain correct safety for the LSU contingent. He expressed his hope that "Southern hospitality" would prevail within the stadium on Saturday night time.
In one more proactive step, the Mississippi Division of Public Security introduced that "an enhanced regulation enforcement presence" can be in Oxford for Saturday's recreation. That may incude the most important deployment of the Mississippi Freeway Patrol ever used for a university soccer recreation, .
"This weekend will deliver a big variety of guests to Oxford, and our precedence is ensuring everybody can benefit from the recreation and surrounding occasions safely," t. "This enhanced presence is about being ready, staying proactive, and dealing collectively."
Maybe previewing what Mississippi and faculty authorities are trying to stop, d between Ole Miss college students and an LSU fan throughout which punches had been thrown, r.
ESPN's "Faculty GameDay" will broadcast from Oxford on Saturday morning n (an Ole Miss fan) chosen because the present's visitor picker. Kickoff for LSU at Ole Miss is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday night time and will likely be televised on ABC.
