OXFORD, Miss. - Sam Leavitt’s night started with hesitation and ended with a throw he couldn’t afford to miss.
For a while, LSU looked buried. Ole Miss had raced out to a 17-0 lead in the first half, and Leavitt was struggling to settle in.
He held the ball too long, looked unsure, and let the Rebels’ pass rush close in on him. Through the early going, the game seemed to be moving faster than he could process it.
Then came the scramble that changed everything.
Leavitt ran right, kept running, then cut back across the field on third and 7 from the Ole Miss 11-yard line. What looked like chaos turned into a 9-yard completion to Winston Watkins, setting up a first-and-goal. Dilin Jones finished the sequence with a 2-yard touchdown run, and LSU suddenly had some life.
That play opened the door for a much better stretch from the quarterback. Leavitt found more rhythm after that wild run, and LSU answered Ole Miss before halftime.
His best throw came on a 26-yard strike to Watkins along the right sideline, trimming the deficit to three. From there, he guided a nine-play, 55-yard drive that ended with a field goal and tied the game, part of a 17-point burst with no answer from Ole Miss.
Leavitt’s second-half surge gave LSU a real shot late, but the finish turned on another missed opportunity. With 1:03 left, LSU was still alive, but Leavitt missed a wide-open Zach Grace on third down. Grace was in for injured star tight end Trey’Dez Green, and the pass sailed wide right.
On fourth-and-goal, Leavitt tried again, but the ball was tipped and intercepted, and LSU had run out of timeouts. That was that.
“At the end, we couldn’t finish,” Kiffin said. “We couldn’t finish on defense and stop them. And on offense we move down (the field) but we stall there at the end.”
Leavitt finished 16 of 27 for 158 yards, with 63 rushing yards and two touchdowns. After his scramble, LSU scored touchdowns on three of its next four possessions.
The rough edges were there from the start, and they were there again at the end. Leavitt’s accuracy has been an issue through the first two games of the season, and this one ended with a throw that cost LSU a chance to pull out a win in Lane Kiffin’s return to Oxford.
Still, once he settled down, Leavitt showed what LSU had been waiting for. From the middle of the second quarter until the game was tied, he completed 9 of 13 passes for 120 yards and added a rushing score. A 4-yard quarterback keeper gave LSU its second touchdown of the night with 9:18 left in the third quarter.
But in the end, the final mistake mattered most in Ole Miss’ 32-24 win.
In Other News...
Lane Kiffin's Return To Oxford Got Ugly After LSU's Loss
LSUs trip to Oxford ended with a 32-24 loss to Ole Miss, but the postgame scene carried its own edge. The rivalry already had enough bite with Lane Kiffin back on the sideline in a place where he once coached, and the atmosphere inside Vaught-Hemingway Stadium matched it, with a crowd large enough to set an attendance record.
As Kiffin made his way out afterward, police escorted him from the stadium following a tense encounter with former Ole Miss recruit Suntarine Perkins. It was the kind of ending that reminded everyone how personal these SEC games can get, especially when old ties, new loyalties and a loud crowd all collide in one night. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Loss Ended With An Awkward Ole Miss Moment Fans Noticed
Holly Rowe was back on the field Saturday night for the LSU-Ole Miss game, and the scene got lively quickly as No. 8 Ole Miss handed No. 7 LSU a 32-24 loss. The postgame portion of the broadcast brought the kind of raw emotion that follows a rivalry-style finish, with Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss fresh off the win and still caught in the moment during his live interview.
Chambliss wound up apologizing publicly after an expletive slipped out on the air, and he later expressed regret for how it played out. Rowe handled the exchange professionally, keeping the moment from overshadowing an already frustrating night for LSU, even if fans were left talking about the awkward ending just as much as the result itself. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Fans Were Shaken By A Frightening Scene Above Saturday's Game
The aerial shots over Saturdays Ole Miss-LSU game in Oxford had plenty of fans already locked in on the atmosphere inside the stadium, but one clip quickly shifted attention to the sky above it. A helicopter came in uncomfortably close to an ESPN camera drone capturing live views over the field, turning what should have been routine broadcast imagery into the kind of moment that made viewers stop and replay the footage.
The near-miss spread fast on social media, where LSU fans and plenty of other observers reacted with concern, and even a helicopter pilot weighed in after seeing the video. No collision occurred and the game went on without further incident, but the episode was a jarring reminder of how much is happening around a major college football broadcast before anyone ever talks about the final score. [Read more 🡒]