Lane Kiffin’s return to Oxford has all the makings of a loud, messy, must-watch night, and LSU walks into it unbeaten with a chance to leave a real mark.
No. 7 LSU heads to No.
8 Ole Miss on Saturday in front of a sold-out Vaught-Hemingway Stadium for a game that has been on the calendar since the SEC schedules came out. The matchup carries plenty of built-in drama: Kiffin is going back to face the school he once coached, and he’ll see Trinidad Chambliss and Kewan Lacy, two players he brought to Oxford.
Four former Rebels will also line up against their old teammates, and two of them are being sued by their former school.
The national conversation has centered on the pressure Kiffin is carrying into the trip, but he says he’s been telling his team not to make it their burden.
"I told the players today, man, like you don't have anything to worry about as far as like attention on you all week and everything. There's just gonna be so much attention, hatred, everything on me.
I said you just get to go play," Kiffin said Monday. "And I said, 'Really, the pressure is on them.
We won seven games last year. They won 13.
They return two Heisman candidates. So you guys just get to go play, and the pressure is not on you.'"
LSU has opened the 2026 season looking sharp over its first two games, and this one gives the Tigers a chance to do more than stay unbeaten. It’s an opportunity to prove, in a game with a national spotlight and no shortage of noise, what kind of team they really are.
In Other News...
LSU Suddenly Has A Huge QB Question Before Ole Miss
LSUs biggest concern heading into Ole Miss might not be the matchup itself, but the uncertainty under center. Starting quarterback Jaden Leavitt was listed as doubtful in the SEC availability report with an unspecified injury, a notable development for a team that had seen him play well in recent games and show no obvious signs of being limited.
The report also left linebacker TJ Dottery questionable, while Tylen Singleton, TreyDez Gree, Whit Weeks and Phillip Wright III showed up with different injury designations as the Tigers tracked multiple moving parts. For LSU, the timing makes the quarterback situation especially delicate, and it leaves the Tigers waiting for clarity before a game that already carries plenty of weight. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Suddenly Has A Huge Ole Miss Question At Quarterback
An early-season quarterback wrinkle has suddenly put LSU on the spot heading into its matchup with Ole Miss, with Sam Leavitt now listed as doubtful because of an undisclosed injury. The timing makes the situation especially delicate, because this is the kind of game where every snap at quarterback gets magnified and any uncertainty quickly changes the conversation around the Tigers.
If Leavitt cannot go, Elon transfer Landen Clark is expected to get the start, a major spotlight moment in a rivalry game with plenty riding on it. The market has already reacted, with the betting line moving toward Ole Miss after the injury update, and LSU now has to sort out its offensive plans with less clarity than it would like this close to kickoff. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Heads To Ole Miss With A Major SEC Week Concern
LSUs first injury report of the 2026 season arrived just before its SEC opener at Ole Miss, and it immediately put the spotlight on quarterback Sam Leavitt. The junior is listed as doubtful, which is not the kind of designation a team wants heading into a conference road game, especially one that will help set the tone for the league schedule. The report also shows a mix of injury statuses across the roster, with several linebackers and other players tagged questionable, out, or probable.
What makes the update even more notable is the lack of detail around the injuries. LSU did not specify the nature of the ailments, leaving the depth chart picture a little murky as the Tigers head into a difficult matchup. For a season opener in SEC play, uncertainty at quarterback and across multiple defensive spots is hardly ideal, and it puts the focus squarely on how much availability LSU will actually have when the game kicks off. [Read more 🡒]