No. 8 Ole Miss and No. 7 LSU are set to kick off conference play in a top-10 matchup Saturday night at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, but the headline entering the game is the availability of Tigers quarterback Sam Leavitt.
Leavitt is listed as doubtful on the SEC’s initial availability report for the 6:30 p.m. CT kickoff on ABC, a surprising development for a game that has carried plenty of weight ever since Lane Kiffin passed on staying in Oxford to take the job in Baton Rouge last November.
Ole Miss entered the season as the home favorite for this Week 3 showdown, but that has flipped. LSU is now a three-point favorite, and it will be the Tigers’ first road game of the year.
The Rebels have been trying to patch up issues in the defensive backfield through the first two weeks, and they may get help on that front. Head coach Pete Golding said earlier this week that safety Sharif Denson “for sure will” make his Ole Miss debut against LSU. Cornerback Antonio Kite is also trending toward a return, though Golding said his status may not be settled until late in the week.
“I think Sharif (Denson) for sure will play this week,” Pete Golding said this week. “It was one we were hopeful for this game, at least some.
There was a decision made on Wednesday, let’s make sure we can have him for next Tuesday. We went ahead and had an injection on Wednesday to make sure that he would be ready to go for next week.
Kite’s situation is hopeful for this week. I think we probably won’t know until towards the end of the week.”
Golding also laid out how Ole Miss is handling the rest of its returning players in practice this week.
“Tommy (Kinsler) will go tomorrow. Mondays are off days, so we’ll practice Tuesday.
Sharif will do all the scout periods (Tuesday). Kite will do some scout periods tomorrow as well, not the whole practice, but he’ll do some of them.
Tommy is back in for the scout periods. Odom is back in the scout periods.
Everybody we didn’t have in that game, we’re expecting to be able to practice tomorrow."
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 🡒]