On Thursday, Texas Tech denied claims by Mississippi head football coach Lane Kiffin that a Texas Tech player spit on an Ole Miss player and possibly used a racial slur during the Texas Bowl.
During the fourth quarter Wednesday, a scrum ensued after Ole Miss’ Dayton Wade fumbled the football and the Red Raiders recovered. The fracas included pushing and shoving between players, and Rebels wide receiver Jordan Watkins was assessed a personal foul penalty.
Following the game, which Tech won 42-25, Kiffin said the penalty should have been assessed to Texas Tech linebacker Dimitri Moore rather than Watkins. Both players wear No. 11.
In his postgame press conference, Kiffin said Watkins was not in the fight, and that Moore tussled with Ole Miss lineman Jayden Williams, stating ”everybody knew” because Texas Tech coaches were yelling at their own player.
“There was a racial slur involved, that’s not the point of what we’re talking about, (it's) about the spitting part," Kiffin said. "I brought our own 71 (Williams) 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 a reporter asked to clarify if a Texas Tech player used a racial slur toward one of his players, Kiffin was unsure. Moore and Watkins are both Black.
“I’m not going to, because I did not hear it, say that that happened for sure that he gave a racial slur to our player,” Kiffin said. "I was told that that was said in that...
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