Lane Kiffin left Oxford for greener pastures. With a transfer-laden superteam in tow, perhaps Kiffin had visions of his LSU Tigers mowing down Ole Miss in his villainous return and wiping the gleeful smiles off of the faces of tens of thousands of Rebels fans who hate his guts.

Instead, the pastures he left behind, still a perfect vibrant green, mowed him down on Saturday night at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. For two quarters, it was like watching a karmic debt paid out in real time.

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Pete Golding’s defense schooled Kiffin’s offense while forcing Kiffin’s handpicked quarterback Sam Leavitt into the factory default face expression for a QB unsure of what he’s about to see from a defense: the deer-in-the-headlights look.

Pained facial expressions weren’t reserved for just Leavitt, as Kiffin himself at one point threw his hands in the air in exasperation at his defense’s helplessness to slow down his former quarterback.

A roll-out of the pocket, throw-on-the-run dart to a double-covered Traylon Ray for a 36-yard gain in the first quarter of an eventual touchdown drive. A back-shoulder bullet to Deuce Alexander in the end zone after rolling up to escape a collapsing pocket. Chambliss’s highlight reel on Saturday night was as long as the combined length of bridges Kiffin has burned in his prior coaching stops.

It’s no surprise that Kiffin tried to bring Chambliss with him to Baton Rouge. He’s well aware of how supremely talented his former QB is, which is perhaps partly why he and defensive coordinator Blake Baker were able to, for the duration of the third quarter, slow Chambliss down enough and force him into a critical mistake—a third quarter interception—allowing the Tigers and a resilient Sam Leavitt to fight their way back into the game.

Only, there was Chambliss in the fourth quarter, looming over Kiffin like the ghost of Christmas past. Leavitt is, by all accounts, a capable QB who can extend plays with his legs. He has a good arm. He’s tough. But on Saturday night, it was evident that Ole Miss had a difference-making advantage at QB over LSU. Heck, maybe over anyone.

Leavitt couldn’t make some of the plays or throws that Chambliss can make because few QBs in the country can. So, when the game was on the line, Chambliss must have looked like the boogeyman to those standing on the LSU sideline.

With the game tied at 24 and under 12 minutes to go, Chambliss went to work. He completed seven of eight passes, one of them on third down where he was money in the bank on Saturday night.

Then came what amounted to the dagger. Chambliss sold a fake handoff to backup running back JT Lindsey, then outran the second level of a fooled LSU defense to get into the end zone for the go-ahead score.

What ensued in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium was as much jubilation as it was catharsis. The game wasn’t officially over. No, LSU’s fate was sealed when cornerback Jaylon Braxton picked off Leavitt’s tipped pass in the end zone.

But the Tigers’ fate may as well have been sealed earlier by Chambliss.

“That's what all week my biggest fear every minute was, when the game is at the end and Trinidad has the ball in his hand,” Kiffin said after the game. “The guy made a lot of plays during the game and did a great job, that's why I said he's the hardest player to play in America. He showed up great today.”

In the end, in an ultimate twist of fate, it was Chambliss—who might be the one thing Kiffin can’t replicate at LSU—who doomed the Tigers.