There was a common theme with the Ole Miss base in the 24 hours following the Rebels’ 42-41 win over Kentucky in Lexington that gave Lane Kiffin his first victory as head coach.

It’s anecdotal, but nearly every interaction I had — from younger supporters all the way to older supporters — was of hope and excitement and the beginning of a fun era of Ole Miss football. The euphoric hangover of a happy moment was still in full bloom, but the comments weren’t hyperbolic and even spoke of understood patience with this significant rebuild.

A friend around my age sent me this text on Saturday night: “I know there’s work to do but that felt like oxygen finally. It’s fun to feel things in the right direction.”

Another friend, who is in his 70s, told me this around the same time: “This is something we can believe in… It was just a win over Kentucky, but it’s the most excited I’ve been since the Sugar Bowl. It’s going to take a little time, but we’re on the right path.”

Ole Miss football has been in varying degrees of unconsciousness since 2016, with the date of initial severe drowsiness either following the New Year’s Day Sugar Bowl victory or the week after the Shea Patterson debut against Texas A&M when Vandy throttled the Rebels or just the final days before the second notice of allegations rocked the program in January 2017.

There have been good days and nice moments since then, but there hasn’t been a positive direction that could be consistently felt.

Saturday was Ole Miss’ first win over a team that went to a bowl the season before since beating Texas Tech in the 2018 opener and the first victory in that category without the opponent suffering a quarterback injury since DK Metcalf jumped over UK cornerback Lonnie Johnson at Kroger Field in 2017. The Rebels were 3-15 before Saturday against FBS programs since routing the Red Raiders in Houston and the three wins were Arkansas twice and Vanderbilt once.

Ole Miss fans, by and large, aren’t difficult to please. Expectations are high and quick-twitched with any SEC member, but Ole Miss supporters want the administration to act like an SEC administration and to display leadership and forward thinking within the athletics department. It boils down to that. They want to show up to the stadium each Saturday with a chance.

Keith Carter’s nearly 11 months on the permanent job have featured an array of obstacles and things aren’t perfect considering the lack of budgetary reserves and the economic impact of the pandemic, but Carter has built trust back with supporters.

He was far enough away from the NCAA investigation debacle to not be stained, and his moves have resulted in a favorable approval rating. Also, one thing Ross Bjork got right was the understanding that each day post-NCAA investigation is one day closer to normalcy. But he didn’t have enough capital to build trust back before he left for Texas A&M. The move made sense for all involved. Ole Miss needed a cleanse.

The personnel shifts with Carter and Kiffin accelerated that road to normalcy and while the NCAA colonoscopy and subsequent bomb still show with the lack of depth — especially on the defensive side — and the overall athletics department financial report, it’s no longer prominently woven in the daily fabric of the fan base.

It’s not a major conversation topic. It’s not front of mind. It’s healed enough for Ole Miss fans to simply worry about the football team on the field and follow Kiffin’s rebuilding efforts while being excited about basketball and baseball when those seasons come.

There’s a lot of work to do. Kentucky had 408 rushing yards on Saturday. Florida set a school passing record the Saturday before that. Alabama is in town in four days. This thing isn’t an overnight fix. But it’s an SEC program rebuilding with an exciting coach. It’s no longer a cautionary tale, and NCAA whispers don’t follow when it walks into a room.

Ole Miss is just an SEC program. And after a long period of drowsiness, that’s a hell of a start.