Lane Kiffin couldn’t resist taking a shot at Ole Miss when the topic shifted to Austin Simmons.
With LSU preparing for Week 7 and a home date against No. 16 Mississippi State after last week’s loss at Kentucky, Kiffin was also fielding questions about another familiar SEC storyline: his former quarterback in Oxford.
That’s Simmons, who played at Ole Miss from 2023-25 before moving on to Mizzou. Now the 13th-ranked Tigers are headed to Oxford to face No.
9 Ole Miss on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET on SEC Network, giving Simmons a return trip to the place where he spent three seasons and Kiffin a chance to watch one of his former players meet his old school again.
Kiffin, of course, knows the feeling. He made his own return to Oxford earlier this season when LSU played-and lost-to the Rebels there.
So when reporters asked him Monday about Simmons, Kiffin answered in classic Kiffin fashion, mixing the jab with the praise.
“Is that tampering if I talk about another player in college? I don’t know anymore,” said Lane Kiffin, in a little, not-so-playful nudge toward Ole Miss.
“Is there really tampering anyway? Speaking of one of those two schools.
… Does it matter if you tamper? Is there actually a penalty?
So, I guess I’ll comment on it. I love Austin.
I think Austin’s a first-round draft pick. I’ve said that the whole time through.”
Now Simmons gets his turn in Oxford, with Mizzou trying to pull off the road upset against the Rebels in a ranked SEC matchup.
In Other News...
Cal Defense Faces A Brutal Test Against Wake Forest's QB
Cals defense is bracing for one of its toughest assignments yet with Wake Forest quarterback Gio Lopez coming into view this week. Tosh Lupoi and his staff have spent the buildup stressing the same point: Lopez can beat a defense in more than one way, with the kind of passing accuracy that keeps drives alive and the rushing ability that punishes any lapse in contain. For a Cal group that has had trouble handling the run this season, that makes the prep as much about discipline as it is about scheme.
Lupoi and the Bears have talked about mixing looks and staying sound across the board, because Lopez is the sort of quarterback who can turn a single breakdown into a long night. Cal knows it cannot afford to get pulled out of position chasing one part of Wake Forests offense while the other part keeps moving the chains, and the challenge now is translating that recognition into a defense that holds up for four quarters. [Read more 🡒]
Cal Defense Faces Its Toughest Test Yet Against Wake Forest
Wake Forests staff is already treating Cals defense like the standard it will have to measure itself against this week, with head coach Jake Dickert praising the Bears before the matchup and framing the unit as the toughest one the Demon Deacons have seen since Miami. That kind of respect fits the way Cal has played on that side of the ball, where Tosh Lupois group has shown real bite in pass coverage and a knack for attacking the football while making opposing quarterbacks uncomfortable.
The challenge now is less about recognition and more about matchups, because Wake Forest brings a mobile quarterback in Gio Lopez who can change the geometry of a play when the pocket breaks down. Lupoi has acknowledged that the Bears have been strong against dropback passers, but the moving parts that come with scrambling quarterbacks create a different test, and one Cal will have to handle better if it wants its defense to keep the same edge it has shown so far. [Read more 🡒]
Cal Faces A Telling Test Against One Of The ACC's Hottest Teams
Wake Forest arrives in Berkeley riding a three-game winning streak and carrying the kind of profile that makes this a useful measuring stick for California. The No. 21 Demon Deacons sit near the top of the Atlantic Coast Conference, so Saturday night gives Cal a chance to see how its recent win stacks up against one of the leagues hottest teams.
For California, the matchup comes with some extra moving parts after injuries have forced adjustments on the offensive side. The Bears will have to sort through those changes against a Wake Forest team that has been in good form and has already shown it can make opponents pay when things get rolling, which is exactly what makes this one worth watching in Berkeley. [Read more 🡒]