Trinidad Chambliss didn’t just answer the Lane Kiffin question Sunday night in Nashville - he flattened it.
With Kiffin now leading the LSU Tigers after his messy exit from Ole Miss, there was obvious curiosity about whether Chambliss would still look like one of college football’s most electric quarterbacks under Pete Golding. The senior made sure that conversation didn’t last long.
In Ole Miss’ 41-38 win over No. 24 Louisville at Nissan Stadium in the Music City Kickoff, Chambliss put together a performance that looked every bit like the kind that made him such a breakout name in the first place.
The numbers tell the story in a hurry: 396 total yards, with 336 through the air and 60 on the ground, plus four touchdowns - three passing and one rushing. And when the Rebels needed him most, he delivered again. Late in the fourth quarter, Chambliss guided an eight-play, 40-yard drive that set up Lucas Carneiro’s 48-yard field goal for the win.
That kind of finish brought back memories of last season’s 39-34 College Football Playoff victory over Georgia, when Chambliss also engineered a clutch drive. On Monday’s edition of "Get Up," ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky put it plainly: "[Trinidad Chambliss] can keep Ole Miss in every game even without Lane Kiffin," ESPN's Dan Orlovsky, a former NFL QB, said Monday on "Get Up." "In the second half, it was absolute fireworks."
It wasn’t a clean night from the start. Chambliss threw an interception and lost a fumble in the first half, and those mistakes were part of the package.
But they got buried fast once he started stacking the kind of plays that make defenses miserable. One of the biggest came in the third quarter, when he uncorked a 62-yard touchdown to junior wide receiver Deuce Alexander II.
That score sparked another reaction from The Ringer’s Todd McShay, who posted on X: "I was asked on a text thread if we're witnessing a [Year 2] regression from Trinidad Chambliss. My answer,"
The bigger takeaway is that the idea Kiffin deserves all the credit for Chambliss’ rise doesn’t hold up on a night like this. Kiffin absolutely deserves his share - he’s been one of the best quarterback developers in the country, helped turn Jaxson Dart into a first-round pick, and opened the door for Chambliss, a former Division II star at Ferris State, to shine. That track record is part of why LSU fans are already looking ahead to what he might do with junior QB Sam Leavitt.
Still, Chambliss has traits you don’t coach away. His calm under pressure, his ability to improvise, the way he keeps Ole Miss alive when plays break down - that’s his own skill set, and it was on full display against Louisville.
The No. 9 Rebels, now 1-0, return home to face Charlotte in Week 2 before turning to their SEC opener against No.
11 LSU in Kiffin’s return to Oxford. For Chambliss, that prime-time matchup is another stage to prove the same point he made in Nashville: he can keep rolling, with or without Kiffin.
In Other News...
LSU Just Got Caught In College Footballs Eligibility Chaos
A Baton Rouge judge was weighing whether two former NFL players could suit up for LSU this fall, another sign of how unsettled college footballs eligibility rules have become. For the Tigers, it is part of a wider mess that now stretches well beyond campus and into courtrooms, where questions about who can play, when they can play and under what conditions are being argued almost as often as they are decided on the field.
Now the issue is heading to Washington, where Sen. Ted Cruz has been pushing the bipartisan Protect College Sports Act as a way to set federal standards for eligibility, NIL and transfers while giving the NCAA limited antitrust protection to enforce its rules. The Senate is scheduled to vote on the bill between Sept. 15 and 23, and LSU's latest brush with the chaos shows why college sports leaders are under growing pressure to find something more stable before every roster question turns into another legal fight. [Read more 🡒]
LSUs Clemson Statement Just Sparked A Bigger Early Season Question
LSUs season-opening rout of Clemson did more than announce the Tigers as a team to watch, it also put several of its best players in the league spotlight. After the 51-10 win, three LSU players were recognized by the SEC, with Sam Leavitt earning Offensive Player of the Week honors, Jordan Seaton landing Lineman of the Week on offense and Jordan Ross taking home Defensive Lineman of the Week.
The awards only sharpen the early-season conversation around LSU, because a performance that dominant tends to raise the bar quickly. When three different players are honored after one game, it suggests the Tigers were not just sharp in one area, but carried the kind of balance and physical edge that can travel into the rest of September and beyond. [Read more 🡒]
Former LSU Tigers Took The Clemson Rout Into The Saints Locker Room
LSUs 51-10 win over Clemson did not stay on the field for long. By the time several former Tigers who now play for the New Orleans Saints got back around their own locker room, the victory had turned into a bit of cross-team mischief, with Saints players using the result to needle a couple of former Clemson teammates in a way only pro athletes seem to appreciate.
Travis Etienne Jr. and Bryan Bresee came back to decorated lockers, with LSU-themed items waiting for them courtesy of Saints teammates Barion Brown, Davon Godchaux and Will Clapp. Brown and Godchaux are still active players, while Clapp has moved into a coaching role on the Saints offensive line, and the whole thing added a little extra local flavor to a win LSU fans were already enjoying. [Read more 🡒]