Saturday night’s top-10 showdown between the LSU Tigers and Ole Miss Rebels in Oxford, MS, may be the most anticipated matchup in the series’ history, dating all the way back to 1894. Tigers head coach Lane Kiffin left the Rebels high and dry ahead of Ole Miss’ College Football Playoff run last season, cementing his legacy as a campus villain.
Publicly, Kiffin, who has already managed to rankle the rest of the SEC along with Ole Miss, has attempted to keep the focus on the field rather than the noise surrounding the game.
“I know obviously a lot’s gonna be made about me, but this is about the players being prepared really well and playing really well,” Kiffin said earlier this week. “You know, (Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding’s) not gonna tackle anybody. I’m not gonna throw any touchdowns. I used to say the same thing when we played Coach Saban. And then he joked that he wouldn’t do very well in coverage at his age. But this is about our guys.”
However, an injury report from earlier this week indicates that Kiffin is as comfortable as ever with creating extra chaos heading into Saturday. Star Tigers quarterback Sam Leavitt popped up on Wednesday’s injury report as “doubtful” for the matchup with the Rebels, a move many across college football, including Ole Miss, view as nothing more than gamesmanship from Kiffin.
Leavitt was upgraded to “questionable” for Thursday’s designation, but Kiffin opted not to address the quarterback-sized elephant in the room at all during Thursday’s episode of his weekly radio show, The Lane Kiffin Show.
Dan Patrick took exception not only to Kiffin’s omission on Friday’s episode of The Dan Patrick Show, but to the fact that the host didn’t even broach the subject.
“Sam Leavitt, thoughts and prayers, is now listed as questionable for LSU. He’s their quarterback. He was doubtful, and somehow he’s questionable. Lane Kiffin has his coach’s radio show,” Patrick said on Friday.
No one asked Lane Kiffin about Sam Leavitt during his weekly radio show?! How?! pic.twitter.com/qu94jnQqNq
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) September 18, 2026
“Apparently, the question wasn’t brought up about Sam Leavitt’s availability or his health,” he continued. “And from what I’m told by reporters, that topic wasn’t addressed, which I would think that would be your first question, but that’s just me.
“But I know you’re playing to a local crowd, friendly fire when it comes to questioning, but I gotta ask, you know, what is the update on Sam Levitt? Maybe he said, going into the conversation or interview, ‘Hey, I’m not gonna talk about Sam Levitt.’ You have to at least ask him the question… This is one of the biggest topics in sports right now. His health going into an incredibly big game this weekend. Biggest game of the weekend. Drama. Everything that’s involved in this. I got to have an update on Sam Levitt.
“Even if you lie to me, at least you’ve asked the question.”
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.