The SEC’s most hyped regular season game in years will in all likelihood feature quarterbacks who began their careers at Michigan State and Ferris State, slinging passes under the watchful eyes of a (relatively recent) former Florida Atlantic coach and a coach who got his job in the middle of a CFP race.
In other words: To sketch out the conditions for LSU’s visit to Ole Miss, you would need to make some bold predictions. That Tigers quarterback Sam Leavitt would show so much promise in leading Arizona State to a Big 12 title in 2024. That Rebels quarterback Trinidad Chambliss would flawlessly translate his game from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference to the SEC. That LSU’s Lane Kiffin would win in spite of his penchant for self-sabotage; that Ole Miss’s Pete Golding would take the reins and not miss a beat.
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Even as blue-chip prospects dot each roster, this is a game of unlikelihoods. With that in mind, here are four bold predictions for how Saturday’s contest will unfold. —Patrick Andres
Ole Miss will strike first with the help of two fourth-down conversions …
In front of what is sure to be a charged Vaught-Hemingway Stadium atmosphere, each team will be incentivized to make a statement out of the gate. Bold-prediction-within-a-bold-prediction: The Rebels will start with the ball no matter how the coin toss goes (the Tigers will defer, Ole Miss won’t). From there, the first drive will take on an all-or-nothing flavor: Golding’s squad will open up its playbook while Kiffin’s repeatedly goes for the jugular on defense. That will lead to an unusually drawn-out opening drive for a pass-first team—one that encompasses two fourth-down conversions (a short one and a medium one). In the end, a short run from running back Kewan Lacy will stake the Rebels to a 7–0 lead. —P.A.
… but two first-half picks from Trinidad Chambliss will put Ole Miss behind the eight ball
In two years with the Rebels, Chambliss has not thrown multiple interceptions in a game. To find the last instance of that happening, you have to go all the way back to Ferris State’s 19–3 loss to Pittsburg State in its 2024 opener. On Saturday, that streak will come to an end thanks to a man who has given Chambliss fits before: LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker. In 2025, with coach Brian Kelly leading the Tigers, Baker forced Chambliss into one of the worst games of a terrific season—the quarterback completed just 59% of his passes for a touchdown and an interception. Baker’s background as a safeties coach is an ideal counter to Chambliss’s skill set, and the coach will help LSU build a halftime lead on the road. —P.A.
LSU backup QB Landen Clark will see time in the game (Dan)
Perhaps I shouldn’t give Kiffin the benefit of the doubt around his usage of this week’s injury report given his history, but it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that Leavitt is really banged up. It certainly looks like he’ll play after being upgraded to questionable on Thursday, and if Leavitt plays, he’s going to throw his body around—we know that much watching him at Arizona State and through the first few games of his Tigers career. Golding’s defense is going to be charged up on Saturday, and I’d be fairly surprised if Kiffin doesn’t need to go to the bullpen at some point.
Kiffin’s decision to bring in Clark when he also added former elite recruit Husan Longstreet to the quarterback room comes on the heels of his success with Chambliss a year ago. He and Chambliss have similar profiles—diminutive, athletic scramblers that put up big numbers at lower divisions. Clark threw for 2,321 yards, 18 touchdowns and eight interceptions at Elon last year, while running for 614 yards and 11 touchdowns. And as we saw last season, Kiffin won’t be conservative in his handling of the offense if he has to make a substitution. —Dan Lyons
The unsung player who will star: LSU running back Stacy Gage
The opportunity is there for Gage due to simple logic. First and foremost, Leavitt is reportedly injured—a development that would seem likely to encourage Kiffin and his brain trust to lean more on the running game, regardless of the severity of Leavitt’s injury. An increase in team carries would theoretically raise the profile of the Tigers’ change-of-pace back—but in a sense, Leavitt (the SEC’s leader in rushing touchdowns) has been LSU’s change-of-pace back this year. With LSU unlikely to run Leavitt into the ground, Gage appears next in line. The UCF transfer and Tampa native’s numbers are not special (4.6 yards per carry lifetime), but he impressed in camp, and he’s in a perfect situation to deliver on the Tigers’ offseason belief. —P.A.
So who will win Saturday’s game? Head to Sports Illustrated’s college football staff score predictions and find out what we think.
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