Stephen A. Smith is not interested in seeing Saturday’s Ole Miss-LSU showdown turn into a free-for-all in Oxford.
With Lane Kiffin making his return to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium after leaving Ole Miss for LSU following the 2025 regular season, Smith used his platform on The Stephen A. Smith Show to push a simple message ahead of the top-10 matchup: keep the chaos in check.
“If Ole Miss wins this football game, you are not going to stop students from storming that field,” Smith said. “I promise you that. Get the hell over it.”
Smith acknowledged the heavy security footprint already planned for the game, noting that Mississippi officials are sending roughly 65 to 70 state troopers, along with additional law enforcement support. He also pointed to the scale of the scene in Oxford.
“There’s going to be anywhere from 80 to 100,000 people in attendance for this game,” Smith said. “There’s 350,000 people in the city.”
His concern wasn’t about fans making noise. It was about keeping things from crossing a line while Kiffin and the LSU players are on the field.
“You can heckle, you can boo, you can spew your venom,” Smith said. “No bottle throwing, no golf ball throwing, no guns, no knives, nothing like that.”
The backdrop makes the game feel bigger than a normal early-season SEC clash. No.
7 LSU and No. 8 Ole Miss both enter at 2-0, and the numbers tell you why this one has everyone’s attention.
LSU is averaging 48 points per game, Ole Miss 41, and the Tigers’ defense has allowed just 12 points per game. Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss has already thrown five touchdowns against one interception.
Smith said the responsibility falls on fans and on anyone speaking publicly about the game to keep the moment from getting out of hand.
“We have an obligation over the airwaves like this to make sure that we disseminate a message to the masses that calls for law and order,” Smith said.
He added, “Let’s make sure we’re thinking along those lines. Don’t be that way. That’s not right.”
For Ole Miss, Pete Golding now leads the program into a meeting with the coach who departed. For LSU, Kiffin is walking into a hostile setting with an SEC opener looming. However the football shakes out, Saturday is already shaping up as a major test of control around the game as much as on the field.
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 🡒]