The top of the AP poll is about to get a shake-up, and Saturday gave voters plenty to sort through.
Ole Miss may have delivered the loudest result of the week, and it came with a familiar face on the other sideline. Lane Kiffin’s return to Oxford, this time leading LSU, was supposed to be the headline act. Instead, it turned into a showcase for the Rebels, who built a 24-7 halftime cushion behind Trinidad Chambliss and then answered LSU’s comeback push when the game tightened.
Chambliss gave Ole Miss exactly the kind of start it needed, and he kept his composure when LSU clawed back. The Rebels’ quarterback finished the job with a late drive and a 14 yard touchdown run, helping seal what could be the kind of win that brings No. 1 votes into play and pushes Ole Miss up near the top five.
LSU, after rallying to tie the game at 24 in the fourth quarter, still couldn’t finish the comeback. Its defense couldn’t get the stop it needed, and Sam Leavitt’s final fourth down throw was tipped and intercepted in the end zone.
That result should matter in the other direction too. Texas A&M looked headed for a major slide after Kentucky went into College Station and controlled the game from start to finish. The Wildcats turned a loss to Alabama in which they only competed for two quarters into a full four-quarter statement, scoring 28 unanswered points to beat the Aggies on the road in Will Stein’s first big signature win as head coach.
Kentucky kept ripping off long scoring drives, including three touchdown marches of 75 yards or more in the second and third quarters. Texas A&M never found a way to settle the game down, and its offense missed a chance to flip momentum when it failed on a fourth-and-2 from its own 33-yard line. Losing at home to an unranked team could make the Aggies the biggest loser in the rankings this week.
Texas Tech also survived a tense one, edging ranked Houston in Lubbock after the defense stopped the Cougars on a two-point conversion attempt. The Red Raiders didn’t have things easy, either.
Houston’s skill players gave them problems for most of the night, and Tech gave up more than 17 points for the first time in 10 straight home wins at Lubbock. Still, the result counts as another important early step for a team trying to fend off a Big 12 challenger.
Houston, meanwhile, came out of the game with a narrow road loss to the defending Big 12 champion, and that kind of defeat can still leave a mark in the poll. The Cougars showed they could go punch for punch with one of the conference’s best teams, but a two-point loss may not be enough to keep them inside the rankings.
Louisville had one of the clearest wins of the day in the ACC, knocking off ranked SMU 41-31 at home in a game that swung back and forth eight times. Keyjuan Brown was the difference, piling up a personal-best 163 rushing yards and two touchdowns to close the door.
Lincoln Keinholz, the former Ohio State quarterback, looked steady for the Cardinals and gave them a chance to spread the field. Louisville’s run game also finally showed some pop with explosive plays on the ground.
SMU, despite running almost two dozen more plays and holding the ball four minutes longer, couldn’t make enough of it. The Mustangs turned the ball over on downs twice, and both of those stops led to Louisville touchdowns.
Kevin Jennings also had two giveaways as SMU dropped to 1-1 in ACC play.
There are a few other names on the move, too. Virginia, ranked No. 25, could slide out of the poll after losing at home to unranked West Virginia, especially with teams just outside the top 25 ready to gain ground.
Mississippi State should keep climbing after moving to 3-0 and taking down South Carolina on the road. The Bulldogs had 17 votes last week and should pick up more after clearing that test, while South Carolina could lose all 15 of its votes.
Florida is another team likely to rise after surviving a shootout at Auburn. The Gators were effectively the No. 27 team last week, and this result should move them closer to the poll.
In Other News...
Ole Miss Fan Just Gave The Grove A Viral GameDay Moment
The Grove already had its usual Saturday buzz when ESPNs College GameDay stopped in Oxford, but Ole Miss freshman James Whitehead turned the backdrop into the days biggest side story. Whitehead stepped into Pat McAfees weekly kicking contest and drilled a 33-yard field goal, a swing that instantly changed the mood in front of the Ole Miss crowd and sent the broadcast scrambling to keep up.
The moment only got bigger from there, especially when McAfee initially wrote the prize as $100 million on a novelty check before correcting himself on the air. Whitehead came away with the actual $1 million prize, and he said he plans to split it with a friend who submitted the winning entry, a tidy finish to one of those rare campus scenes that feels made for replay clips and Saturday folklore alike. [Read more 🡒]
GameDays Ole Miss Split Just Added More Heat To LSU Showdown
College GameDay turned Oxford into a focal point ahead of Ole Miss-LSU, with the crew on hand live from town and Morgan Freeman joining in on the fun by making winner predictions for several Week 3 college football matchups. The buildup fit the stage, too, with the Rebels and Tigers set for one of the weekends most-watched games and the atmosphere around it only getting louder.
The panels view of the matchup was split, which only sharpened the edge on a game that already had plenty of attention. Most of the crew leaned Ole Miss, while Nick Saban went the other way and Kirk Herbstreit stayed out of the pick entirely because he is on the call for the game, leaving the pregame conversation with just enough disagreement to keep the spotlight fixed on Oxford. [Read more 🡒]
Lane Kiffins Family Is Forcing Ole Miss Fans To Confront Something Ugly
As Ole Miss gets ready for a marquee showdown with LSU on Saturday night, the noise around Lane Kiffin has spilled well beyond the usual game-week chatter. His family has been caught in the middle of it, with inappropriate jokes and offensive behavior aimed at people who should have no part in the football noise at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
Layla Kiffin posted a message on social media asking for kindness, and Landry Kiffin spoke publicly about the hurt caused by banners and comments that crossed a line. It is the kind of ugly sideshow that tends to surface around big games, and it puts a different kind of pressure on a night that was already set to draw plenty of attention on ABC at 7:30 p.m. ET. [Read more 🡒]