Lane Kiffin couldn’t help himself when the subject turned to Austin Simmons.
With LSU preparing for its Week 7 matchup against No. 16 Mississippi State, Kiffin was asked Monday about his former Ole Miss quarterback ahead of Missouri’s trip to Oxford.
Simmons, who played for the Rebels from 2023-25 before transferring to Mizzou, is set to face No. 9 Ole Miss on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
ET on SEC Network.
That gives the game a familiar twist. Kiffin already made a return to Oxford earlier this season, when LSU played - and lost to - Ole Miss there. Now Simmons is the former Rebel making his own trip back, only this time in a different uniform.
Kiffin, who coached Ole Miss from 2020 until leaving for Baton Rouge late in the 2025 season, leaned into the moment with a joke that took aim at the tampering conversation around college football.
“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.”
Simmons and Kiffin spent three seasons together at Ole Miss before going separate ways, and Saturday’s matchup now puts Simmons back in Oxford against the school he left. Mizzou is 13th in the rankings, while Ole Miss comes in at No. 9 for the SEC showdown.
In Other News...
Kentuckys New SEC FPI Spot Says Plenty After The LSU Win
ESPNs latest Football Power Index update offered another snapshot of where Kentucky sits in the SEC after the Week 6 slate, and it adds some context to what the Wildcats just did against LSU. The model, which factors in recent results and projects the rest of the season, places Kentucky in the middle of a crowded conference picture alongside a cluster of teams trying to sort out their identities as the year moves deeper into October.
The broader SEC rankings also show how tight the race remains beneath the leagues heavyweights, with programs like Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Auburn, South Carolina, Mississippi State, Florida, Texas A&M and Missouri all carrying their own FPI numbers and projected paths. For Kentucky, the update matters because it reinforces that the LSU win was more than just a good night in Lexington, even if the real test is how the Wildcats build on it from here. [Read more 🡒]
Kentucky's Surprising Rise Faces Its Biggest Test Yet At Oklahoma
Kentuckys unexpected surge has carried it into October with real momentum, and the Wildcats have earned every bit of it. Under first-year head coach Will Stein, Kentucky has gone from a team trying to find its footing to one sitting at 5-1 overall and 3-1 in SEC play after back-to-back overtime wins against South Carolina and LSU, results that have changed the tone around the program in a hurry.
Now comes a different kind of challenge. Kentucky heads to Oklahoma on October 17 for the first conference meeting between the schools since the Sooners joined the SEC in 2024, and the timing could hardly be tougher, with Oklahoma fresh off an upset of then-No. 1 Texas in the Red River Rivalry and sitting at 3-2. For Kentucky, this is the kind of road test that can tell you whether the rise is real or still just the latest surprise in a long SEC season. [Read more 🡒]
Kentucky Fans May Have Just Seen A Program-Changing Night
For one night at Kroger Field, Kentucky football looked and felt like a program that had rediscovered its edge. The Wildcats knocked off No. 10 LSU 35-34 in overtime in front of a sellout crowd, and the setting only added to the moment, with a throwback uniform and a new team walkout ritual helping turn the evening into something bigger than a single upset.
The finish matched the atmosphere, with Kenny Mincheys two-point conversion delivering the winning play and setting off a celebration that spilled onto the field. The SEC later fined Kentucky $500,000 for the storming, a costly reminder of how rare and emotional the win felt for a fan base that has spent plenty of seasons waiting for a night like this. [Read more 🡒]