A trip to Oxford used to mean one thing for LSU: a bruising night against Ole Miss in a stadium that knows how to get loud. This time, though, the setting comes with a different kind of familiarity and a lot of fresh faces.
When No. 7 LSU meets No.
8 Ole Miss on Saturday, both teams will bring 2-0 records and real early-season weight to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. The uniforms will still be powder blue against white and gold, but nearly everything else around the matchup has shifted.
Lane Kiffin is no longer on the LSU sideline, Pete Golding has stepped in and pushed the Rebels to a College Football Playoff semifinal, 15 players from the 24-19 Ole Miss win have been drafted, LSU has added 41 transfers and Ole Miss has brought in 29 of its own.
Even with all that turnover, the game still comes back to the same basic question: can LSU’s defense handle Ole Miss’s playmakers?
Senior linebacker Whit Weeks thinks the answer starts with a defense that has grown up fast under Blake Baker.
“I think coach Baker’s evolved a lot as a play caller,” Weeks said. “I think that he trusts us a lot more than maybe in the past years.
We’re doing a lot of different things on our side of the ball just because he’s able to kind of install his whole defense and everything that he wants to do because he can trust guys like me, TJ (Dottery), (Ty Benefield) and everybody out on the field. He’ll throw an install at us in the morning, and two hours later we’re running it at practice.”
That trust shows up in the numbers. Through two games, 11 Tigers have already posted at least five tackles.
Weeks is the only one in that group who started against Ole Miss in 2025, and six of those contributors are in their first season at LSU. That list includes starting linebacker TJ Dottery, defensive ends Princewill Umanmielen and Jordan Ross, and safety Ty Benefield.
Add in transfer defensive tackle Stephiylan Green, freshman tackle Deuce Geralds, and returners DJ Pickett, PJ Woodland, Dashawn Spears and Tamarcus Cooley, and LSU has built a first-team unit that has smothered opponents early. The Tigers have given up only 54 first-half yards and three points across their first two games. Even with the backup defense seeing plenty of action, LSU ranks No. 1 nationally in offensive yards allowed per game at 142, No. 2 in rushing yards allowed per game at 18.5, and No. 22 in scoring defense with 24 points allowed.
Weeks said that kind of production has come from Baker’s defense taking another step, but he also pointed out that Ole Miss has changed too. That includes quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, who has clearly left an impression.
“I think it’s like any player. He’s evolved a lot.
I think he’s gotten even better than when we saw him last year. He’s definitely going to be a challenge to contain, but it’s a good challenge and I’m looking forward to it,” Weeks said.
Chambliss was a problem for LSU last season, piling up 314 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception along with 71 rushing yards in just his third Division I start. He finished the year as the SEC’s leading passer with 3,937 yards and helped lead Ole Miss to an 11-2 record as the starter.
That is why Weeks keeps coming back to the same two names: Chambliss and Kewan Lacy.
“Both those dudes, watching the first two games of the season, they’re hard to get on the ground,” he said. “We know we’re going to have to contain them.
We’ve been working on our tackling a lot this week, so we know we’re going to have to wrap up and get those guys on the ground. But then really just the firepower, both those dudes at any single play of the game, they can score a touchdown.”
Lacy finished 2025 as the No. 3 rusher in the country with 1,567 yards and the No. 2 touchdown scorer with 24. He has opened 2026 with 30 carries for 148 yards and three scores in two games, though he has been on the field for just 74 of Ole Miss’s 141 offensive snaps. Against LSU last year, he ran 23 times for 87 yards and a touchdown.
Weeks also knows Saturday night will bring a different kind of energy in the stands. He said he has not spent much time thinking about what Ole Miss fans might have waiting for their former head coach, but he’s certain the atmosphere will be hostile.
“I bet it’ll be even more rowdy this year than last year. We know we’re walking into a hostile environment, but anytime you go on the road in the SEC, it’s like that. It’s a lot of fun, so we’re looking forward to it for sure,” Weeks said.
In Other News...
LSU Fans Have One More Reason To Hate This Ole Miss Loss
Ole Miss left Baton Rouge with a 32-24 win over LSU, and Trinidad Chambliss had plenty to do with it. The Rebels quarterback piled up 363 passing yards, threw two touchdown passes and one interception, and also added a rushing score, turning in the kind of all-around performance that made LSU fans swallow a frustrating home loss.
As if the result itself were not enough, Chambliss gave Tigers fans one more annoyance after the final whistle. In a postgame interview with ESPN's Holly Rowe, he let an expletive slip while saying Ole Miss's "Hotty Toddy" cheer, a small moment that only added another layer to an already aggravating night for LSU supporters. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Now Has Two Injury Worries Fans Can't Ignore
LSUs 32-24 loss to Ole Miss was already a frustrating night, and the injury list only added to the concern. Safety Dashawn Spears went down early in the second quarter and was later seen on crutches, while tight end TreyDez Green left in the fourth quarter with a right knee injury after being unable to put weight on his leg.
The Tigers did get a small bit of good news from linebacker TJ Dottery, who was questionable before kickoff but still played and made an impact with five tackles and a pass breakup. Even so, losing two key starters in the same game leaves LSU waiting on answers it could hardly afford to need right now. [Read more 🡒]
Lane Kiffins Family Is Forcing Ole Miss Fans To Confront Something Ugly
The buildup to LSU and Ole Miss has brought the usual noise, but some of it has gone well past football. Lane Kiffins family, including his daughter Landry, has been targeted with inappropriate jokes on social media, a reminder of how quickly rivalry banter can turn ugly when the game is this big. Ahead of a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on ABC, the conversation around this matchup has been complicated by a very different kind of attention.
Layla Kiffin, Lanes ex-wife, posted a message urging kindness, and Landry publicly addressed the offensive comments herself. It is the kind of episode that forces a fan base to confront where the line is, especially when the spotlight on a high-profile coach bleeds into his familys life. The football part of the night still matters, but so does the reminder that not everything attached to a rivalry belongs in the stands or online. [Read more 🡒]