Kiffin: Texas Tech Player Spit, May Have Used Slur Toward Ole Miss Player

The Rebels coach said officials called a penalty on the wrong player by mistake.

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Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said a Texas Tech player spit on one of his players and may have used a racial slur during his team’s Texas Bowl loss in Houston on Wednesday night. 

The alleged incident occurred when a scrum erupted early in the fourth quarter following a fumble by Ole Miss wide receiver Dayton Wade and a Texas Tech recovery. Pushing and shoving between players ensued, and Rebels wide receiver Jordan Watkins was assessed a personal foul penalty.

But Kiffin said the penalty should have been on Texas Tech’s Dimitri Moore, who is No. 11 for Texas Tech, instead of Watkins, who wears No. 11 for Ole Miss.

“They announce our 11, which is Jordan Watkins, who wasn’t in the fight,” Kiffin said, per the Associated Press. “It was their 11 that was fighting 71 [Ole Miss lineman Jayden Williams], and everybody knew because their own coaches were yelling at the guy.

“There was a racial slur involved. That’s not the point of what we’re talking about; [it’s] about the spitting part,” Kiffin continued. “I brought our own 71 up to the officials, right or wrong, you see him crying? He’s not crying not because he got spit on, it’s because something was said.”

When asked to confirm whether a racial slur indeed was uttered, Kiffin couldn’t answer with 100% certainty. 

“I’m not going to, because I did not hear it,” Kiffin said. “[I’m not going to] say that that happened for sure that he gave a racial slur to our player. I was told that that was said in that [incident], but I did not hear that. So that would obviously be a giant issue.”

Both Moore and Williams are Black. Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire was not asked about the incident after his team’s 42–25 victory, but Kiffin said he spoke with McGuire about the spitting incident after the game. 

“If you actually watch over there, one of them’s kind of laughing because he got off,” Kiffin said, per the AP. “He’s screaming at the player. They’re losing their mind on him. I talked to their head coach afterward. He was like: ‘Crazy officiating out there.’ I go: ‘Yeah, that was really bad on that one that your guy spit and our guy got the penalty.’ He was like: ‘Yeah, I know.’”