Pete Golding Addresses 'Emotion' and Concern vs. Lane Kiffin, LSU in Ole Miss' Revenge Game

Ole Miss head football coach Pete Golding discussed his feelings regarding Saturday night's massive SEC clash with the LSU Tigers, who are led by former Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin.

During an appearance Saturday morning on ESPN College GameDay on Saturday morning, Golding talked about his concerns and his goals for the game.

"I think it's the intentional focus piece of doing my job," Golding said. "And I think progression teaching is so important, and I got to go back in that moment, 'Alright, what's my lineup assignment key? What's my primary key, my secondary key? What's my footwork?' And [Nick Saban] always talked about, it's fine to have emotion, you just can't become emotional, and we all start making bad decisions. I learned that from him all the time. So, I think that's there. I worry about a little bit pregame, like don't play the game too early. You don't want to be the loudest guy in the bar, that ain't it. Let's focus and let's do our job.

"So, we'll see. I think some guys have been in these big moments, they'll be okay. I just don't want them to have to press. We're not asking you to do anything you haven't done before. You don't have to play perfect. We're not perfect. We're not going to be perfect. We've got to be at our best, whatever that looks like. We have to make the least amount of mistakes than the other team. Let's out-physical the other team, Let's go out and let loose and play football. This is what you do it for."

Saturday's game would be a huge one under normal circumstances with Ole Miss ranked No. 7 in the nation and LSU ranked No. 8, but the emotions figure to be running even higher than usual at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Mississippi, due to the fact that Kiffin made the decision to leave Ole Miss for LSU prior to last season's College Football Playoff.

Although Kiffin lobbied publicly to stay on as Ole Miss' head coach through the CFP last season, the school instead promoted Golding from defensive coordinator to head coach.

There were doubts about the Rebels' chances of success in the CFP after making such a significant change, but the team beat both Tulane and Georgia in the playoffs before falling 31-27 to Miami in a semifinal nail-biter.

Golding is now in the midst of his first full season as Ole Miss' head coach, and the Rebels are off to a strong, 2-0 start with wins over No. 23 Louisville and Charlotte.

Ole Miss returned several key players from last season's CFP semifinals squad, including quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy.

Chambliss, Lacy and many other members of the Ole Miss squad played under Kiffin during his six-year tenure at the school, plus Kiffin brought multiple players and coaches with him from Ole Miss to LSU.

Because of that, there will be no shortage of familiarity between the two teams, and it should add even more intrigue to an already massive game.

During his College GameDay appearance (h/t Sam Sklar of the Clarion Ledger), Golding laid out his expectations for an LSU side he is familiar with, along with what he believes his players need to do in order to get the upper hand.

"I think it's a combination of really three things," Golding said. "To your point, I think disguises are first because, as you know, when we start changing calls, getting all 11 guys on the same page isn't always perfect. So, I think the disguise piece of that is really important early in the downs.

"But also, I think it's got to be on the players to be able to go kill [the play] on the field. With their Nike and their Reebok, their fake look and the real look, they try to get you. We got to do that on the field with our players or at least we can get in one call and out of another call. But from a green dot standpoint, it's all 11 guys are on the same page. It's not from me on the sideline. So, if they screw it up, all 11 are screwing up on the same call. We'll be OK if we do that, but we got to be able to change the picture on them. But we also got to be able to get out of certain things that they know you're in, so you don't get the beaters."

Even if Golding and Kiffin would prefer to put the emphasis on the players and what happens on the field, it is clear that Ole Miss fans are harboring ill will toward Kiffin.

He was booed mercilessly by the Rebels fans in attendance at ESPN College GameDay on Saturday morning, and the boos will likely be even louder when he runs onto the field prior to the start of Saturday night's game.

The elements are present for both teams to have some added motivation, but none of them should need it since beating a top team and taking a massive step toward SEC championship and CFP contention should be motivation enough.