Rece Davis is betting on the upset in Saturday’s top-10 clash, and he’s doing it with the quarterback matchup front and center.
On the College GameDay Podcast, the ESPN host took No. 8 Ole Miss over No.
7 LSU, even though he acknowledged the Tigers probably have the better overall roster. The line opened with Ole Miss as a 1.5-point favorite before moving to LSU -2.5.
“I will go with Hotty Toddy. I'm going to say Ole Miss wins at home in one of the more cathartic wins in the history of college football,” Davis said.
He didn’t dismiss LSU’s case. In fact, he started there.
“High-end talent is better for LSU. LSU probably should win the game,” he said.
But Davis landed on the Rebels because of how he viewed the quarterbacks. LSU’s Sam Leavitt and Ole Miss’ Trinidad Chambliss became the deciding factor in his pick.
“Sam Leavitt has turned the ball over in his career. Trinidad turned it over a couple of times against Louisville. I will go with the guy that I deem to be a slightly better quarterback, although both are very good,” Davis said while explaining his choice.
Leavitt threw three interceptions against Louisiana Tech in Week 2. Chambliss and Ole Miss opened the season with a 41-38 win over Louisville.
Davis also pointed to urgency on the Ole Miss side.
“I think Ole Miss needs it worse because if they lose, and then if they were to compound it by losing to Florida the next week, I think Ole Miss starts worrying that the window shut last year,” Davis said.
He was the lone one of the three podcast hosts to back the Rebels. ESPN senior writer Pete Thamel and podcast co-host Dan Wetzel both went with LSU.
“I think LSU's high-end talent is just higher than Ole Miss's,” Thamel said. “I don't think it's like 41-40. I do think it's more like 24-21.”
“It’s a hard pick for me. My head says LSU,” Wetzel said.
Ole Miss has not dropped a home game since a 20-17 loss to Kentucky on Sept. 28, 2024.
There’s also uncertainty around LSU’s quarterback situation heading into Saturday. Leavitt was listed as doubtful on LSU’s first SEC availability report Wednesday night, and the conference defines doubtful as a 25% chance to play. Reports said the Arizona State transfer has a sore throwing shoulder and did not throw in Wednesday’s practice.
If Leavitt can’t go, Husan Longstreet would get the start. Longstreet is a former five-star quarterback who was with the Oregon Ducks last year.
The game has also spilled into the legal realm. LSU defensive end Princewill Umanmielen was served court papers Tuesday in the parking lot outside LSU’s football facility.
Ole Miss sued Umanmielen and LSU offensive lineman Devin Harper on July 27 for breach of contract, seeking $550,000 from Umanmielen and $400,000 from Harper.
Thamel said he was told “the point of that lawsuit wasn't as much to get the money from the broken contracts, but they want to make sure that LSU gets stuck with the revenue-share cap hit of nearly a million dollars.”
LSU and Ole Miss will meet as top-10 teams for the first time since 1962, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday on ABC.
In Other News...
Ole Miss Fan Just Delivered A Viral Pregame Flex At LSU's Expense
A day before Ole Miss and LSU renewed one of the SECs louder rivalries, an Oxford commercial pilot found a fresh way to needle the Tigers. Joshua Gregory took to the sky and, over Louisiana, used his flight path to spell out Come to the Sip, turning a pregame jab into something far bigger than a message board post.
The stunt quickly caught fire on social media and even drew notice from aviation enthusiasts around the world, which is about as wide a stage as a college football flex can get. It also prompted reaction from Louisiana pilot Brian Trascher, who weighed in on the challenge of pulling off the route and the rivalry flavor behind it, leaving the whole episode with a little more air time than anyone probably expected. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Just Got A New Twist In Its LSU Lawsuit Fight
The offseason legal battle tied to Ole Miss took another turn when LSU defensive end Princewell Umanmielen was served court papers connected to a lawsuit the Rebels filed. The case centers on alleged breach of contract and seeks monetary damages from Umanmielen and another former Ole Miss player, adding a messy off-field layer to a dispute that already reaches beyond the usual transfer chatter.
LSU officials were aware there would be an attempt to serve Umanmielen before it happened, underscoring how carefully this has been unfolding behind the scenes. The suit is reportedly centered on revenue sharing issues between the schools, which gives the fight a broader backdrop than just one player and makes it clear this disagreement could have implications well past this single legal filing. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Just Got Another Reason To Circle LSU Saturday
A routine September trip to Baton Rouge already had enough edge, but Ole Miss has picked up another layer of intrigue ahead of Saturdays matchup with LSU. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry jumped onto social media to criticize the Rebels after they filed a breach of contract lawsuit against LSU defensive player Princewill Umanmielen, a former Ole Miss player who transferred after last season.
The legal fight has only sharpened the mood around a game that was already set up to carry real weight for both programs. With Umanmielen now on the LSU side of the rivalry and the lawsuit still hanging over the story line, this is the kind of off-field wrinkle that can make an SEC meeting feel even bigger before a single snap is played. [Read more 🡒]