HOUSTON — Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said a Texas Tech player spit on one of his players and possibly used a racial slur in the TaxAct Texas Bowl on Wednesday night.
After Ole Miss’ Dayton Wade fumbled early in the fourth quarter and Texas Tech recovered, the teams broke into a tussle. There was pushing and shoving between players and Ole Miss wide receiver Jordan Watkins was given a personal foul penalty.
After the game, Ole Miss lost 42-25, Kiffin said the penalty should have been on Texas Tech’s Dmitri Moore, who was the no. 11 for the Red Raiders, instead of Watkins, no. 11 for Ole Miss.
“They announce the 11th, Jordan Watkins, who wasn’t in the fight. It’s their 11th who fought in the 71st. [Ole Miss lineman Jayden Williams]And everybody knew because their own coaches were yelling at the guy,” Kiffin said.
“It was a racial slur, that’s not what we’re talking about. [it’s] About the saliva section. I presented our own 71 to the authorities, right or wrong, did you see him cry? He’s not crying, not because he was spat on, but because something was said.
When asked to explain how a Texas Tech player used a racial slur against one of his players, Kiffin said he wasn’t sure.
“I will not go, because I did not hear, [I’m not going to] “Definitely say he used racial slurs on our players.” Kiffin said. [incident]But I didn’t hear him. So that’s obviously going to be a big deal.
Moore and Williams are both black.
Kiffin was upset during the game because he didn’t believe the penalty was fair because he thought it should have been on someone else.
“I’m going to defend our players when a kid spits on them and it’s him in front of a national audience,” Kiffin said. “So Jordan has to deal with this.”
Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire wasn’t asked about the incident, but said Kiffin talked about the spit after the game.
“If you’re really paying attention there, one of them is a laugher because they’re going down,” Kiffin said. “He’s yelling at the player, they’re losing their minds on him. … I talked to their head coach. He was like, ‘It’s crazy to lead out there.’ I go: ‘Yeah, that guy of yours got the spit and our guy got the penalty, that was really bad.’ He was like, ‘Yeah, I know.’