OXFORD — Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin explained more than once this spring that he didn't find much value in a traditional spring game. The schemes are basic. The value in evaluating the tape is minimal.

So why play one?

The football was decidedly a secondary menu item during Saturday's Grove Bowl Games at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, with hot dogs, dunks and tug-of-war contests providing most of the highlights from Kiffin's reimagined event, with points on offer for all the activities. The Red Team beat the Blue Team 71-70 after Caden Davis ended the event by missing a decisive 65-yard field goal.

Joey Chestnut crashes Ole Miss football hot dog contest

In an effort to lift the Blue Team, which trailed for most of the Grove Bowl Games before making a late run, Kiffin called on a legend.

Joey Chestnut, described by the official Major League Eating website as "the greatest eater in history," holds the all-time record for eating 76 hot dogs in 10 minutes.

And his greatness was on full display. Chestnut downed 20 hot dogs after entering Saturday's contest, which he entered with around 1:30 left on the clock.

It's a similar pace to the one he used to set records. When asked to assess his performance afterward, he simply said that he was hungry.

"When you're down, you call in the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time)," Kiffin said.

Brandon Turnage wins Ole Miss football dunk contest

The Rebels opened their Grove Bowl Games on a makeshift basketball court placed in the corner of the north end zone for a dunk contest.

The acrobatics on display probably wouldn't inspire Ole Miss basketball coach Chris Beard – one of the competition's judges – to invite any Rebels to add a second sport, with the possible exception of Oxford native and Tennessee transfer Brandon Turnage.

Turnage threw down a windmill dunk with his back to the basket, earning perfect 10s from a panel that also included former Rebels AJ Brown, Elijah Moore and Cody Core.

His performance in the finals of the competition wasn't as sparkling, but it was still enough to outdo wideout Tre Harris.

Tug of war competition delivers hilarity

No portion of Saturday afternoon's event was more competitive than the tug-of-war session that took place after the first quarter of seven-on-seven action.

A team anchored by former New York Giants coach Joe Judge won the staff-against-staff matchup, but Ole Miss offensive line coach John Garrison was brave enough to get involved in a game that included active players.

Garrison helped lead his team to victory, then told the on-field emcee he was "exhausted" and just glad his team made it through without sustaining any injuries.

Pi Beta Phi's reward for claiming the Ole Miss sorority tug-of-war championship was a matchup against recruiting staffer and "The Bachelorette" contestant Michael Hess. It was decided within seconds, with Pi Phi claiming an emphatic win.

Youngsters combine in seven-on-seven game

The opportunities to analyze actual football proved minimal on Saturday.

Ole Miss did not provide statistics for the seven-on-seven flag football action, which seemed to make up its own rules as it went along.

There were some highlight-reel plays, though.

Transfer defenders Pooh Paul, Louis Moore and Trey Amos came down with interceptions. But the best bit of individual brilliance arrived in the third quarter, when sophomore wideout Ayden Williams stuck one hand out and grabbed a back-shoulder pass from early enrollee quarterback AJ Maddox along the sideline for a big gain.

David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.

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This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: The 4 best things we saw at Ole Miss football's 'Grove Bowl Games'