Ole Miss just fired back at LSU and Lane Kiffin after Tigers release injury report listing Sam Leavitt as doubtful for Saturday
The LSU Tigers put out an injury report on Wednesday night that listed starting quarterback Sam Leavitt as doubtful for Saturday’s game in Oxford, but that’s not how the Rebels’ staff is viewing things.
The LSU Tigers and Ole Miss Rebels are gearing up for what could be the biggest game of the college football season, and Lane Kiffin has already added an extra layer of intrigue before kickoff. LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt appeared on the Tigers’ availability report as doubtful, seemingly out of nowhere, and the details that have emerged since paint a picture of classic gamesmanship from one of the sport’s most notorious agitators.
The saga started with Leavitt’s doubtful tag, which initially raised legitimate questions. Maybe that explained why he looked off against Louisiana Tech. Maybe that’s why he threw three interceptions. But roughly 45 minutes to an hour after the initial report surfaced, On3’s Pete Nakos reported that Leavitt had been limited in practice with shoulder soreness. Still practicing, mind you. Just limited. With shoulder soreness.
The Sam Leavitt situation has all the hallmarks of gamesmanship
The truth is, a quarterback dealing with shoulder soreness on a week-to-week basis is nothing unusual. To list him as doubtful for that felt a little rich. But what really gave it away was the betting market. If you checked the lines for LSU-Ole Miss the morning after the report dropped, well after 12 to 18 hours had passed since news of Leavitt being doubtful, the line had not budged. Vegas was telling you everything you needed to know.
And then ESPN’s Pete Thamel confirmed what many suspected. As Thamel reported, no one on the Ole Miss staff is convinced LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt’s appearance as doubtful on the injury report is sincere, or that he’ll miss the game on Saturday.
So Vegas doesn’t buy it. Ole Miss doesn’t buy it. The evidence points in one direction.
Why would Lane Kiffin pull this move?
So the immediate question becomes: why would Kiffin do this? The answer is simple. Because he’s Lane Kiffin.
Whether it’s an attempt to get back at Ole Miss for serving one of his players with a lawsuit this week (though Thamel reported that LSU was expecting that), or whether it’s retaliation against the SEC over the situation involving a tight end and a pass rusher, the motivation is almost beside the point.
The bottom line is Kiffin is doing it because this is who Kiffin has always been. The man thrives on chaos, on needling opponents, on creating storylines where none need to exist. This is the coach who has turned trolling into an art form, and the doubtful designation for a quarterback dealing with run-of-the-mill shoulder soreness fits the pattern perfectly.
Expect Sam Leavitt to play on Saturday
At this point, it would be surprising if Leavitt doesn’t suit up. The practice reports, the unchanged betting lines, and the Ole Miss staff’s reaction all suggest the same thing: Sam Leavitt will be under center when LSU and Ole Miss kick off on Saturday.
Kiffin returning to Oxford with a healthy starting quarterback and a manufactured controversy is about as on-brand as it gets. The only real question now is whether the gamesmanship gave Ole Miss any extra motivation heading into what was already shaping up to be a marquee matchup.
