NewzFormer D-II transfer takes over Heisman frontrunner status after leading Rebels past No. 7 LSU with a clutch game-winning touchdown drive Lane Kiffin's much-hyped return to Mississippi ended with a fourth-down failure.Jaylon Braxton intercepted Sam Leavitt's pass into the end zone in the final seconds, setting off a raucous celebration that was nine months in the making and sending Kiffin and No.
7 LSU home with a 32-24 loss to eighth-ranked Ole Miss that showed just how hated the coach has become in Oxford.It was the second loss of the day for a top-10 team from the Southeastern Conference. 9 Texas A&M 31-21 on the road.The later one was equally shocking, mostly because the Rebels looked like they would roll over the Tigers early. LSU stormed back in the second half and had a chance to tie the game in the final minute.But Leavitt's pass was tipped and then picked off.A few minutes later, after Trinidad Chambliss took two knees, the home team reveled by shooting fireworks and playing “Callin' Baton Rouge” by Garth Brooks — an epic troll.It was exactly what Kiffin should have expected after getting wildly booed long before he arrived at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.Kiffin appeared remotely on ESPN’s “College GameDay,” and Mississippi fans still angry about how he left the Rebels for LSU late last season greeted him with a chorus of expletive-laced chants.“I really appreciate you guys gaslighting them with this,” Kiffin said from the team hotel.It was the latest in a growing buildup for the first top-10 matchup between No.
7 LSU and eight-ranked Ole Miss since 1962.It started when Kiffin left the Rebels to take the LSU job and a $91 million contract just as the team he had coached for six years was days away from its first appearance in the College Football Playoff. Kiffin wanted to stay through the playoff, but Ole Miss moved on to coach Pete Golding and advanced to the CFP semifinals. LSU finished 7-6, capped by a loss in the Texas Bowl.The off-field storylines haven’t stopped since.
Kiffin’s comments about whether Black players could be recruited to Ole Miss, lawsuits alleging Ole Miss transfers owe big money for reneging on their NIL deals and LSU’s now-abandoned defiance of rules against rostering former pro players have only brightened the spotlight for this one.Kentucky wins behind three transfersThe Wildcats got big games from quarterback Kenny Minchey, running back CJ Baxter and safety Jordan Castell in College Station, Texas.Minchey, a N… (AP) — Lane Kiffin's new team at LSU couldn't deny Trinidad Chambliss — the quarterback Kiffin helped transform into a star after recruiting him from a Division II program to Mississippi last year.Chambliss passed for 363 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a tiebreaking score in the fourth quarter, and No. 8 Ole Miss delighted a crowd that was already revved up about Kiffin's return, beating the seventh-ranked Tigers 32-24 on Saturday night.LSU stormed back from a 24-7 halftime deficit to tie the game before Chambliss engineered a 75-yard touchdown drive without the services of top running back Kewan Lacy, who left the game with an injured left shoulder.Chambliss faked a handoff and ran 14 yards against the grain, outracing LSU safety Ty Benefield to the left pylon, and Ole Miss (3-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) added a 2-point conversion to take an eight-point lead with 6:14 to go.Ole Miss drew LSU offside twice while lining up for the conversion before converting it from a half-yard out on a direct snap to JT Lindsey.LSU answered by driving 69 yards to the Ole Miss 6 before Sam Leavitt missed open tight end Zach Grace along the goal line with a third-down pass, and then had his fourth-down pass deflect off the helmet of defensive end Kam Franklin.
Jaylon Braxton intercepted the ball in the end zone to seal it as Kiffin virtually collapsed to his knees.Leavitt passed for 153 yards and a touchdown and ran for 63 yards and a score for LSU (2-1, 0-1).The Tigers' comeback bid began in earnest with pressure by Benefield, whose blitz forced Chambliss into a rushed throw that was intercepted by Ja’Keem Jackson and returned 10 yards to the Rebels 33.Leavitt took it from there, gaining 10 yards on a scramble up the middle that ended with the QB being flipped upside down by multiple tacklers before crashing down hard on the 4-yard line. Leavitt responded to the big hit with a tackle-slipping scoring run on the next play to make it 24-14.After Lucas Caneiro missed a 53-yard field goal attempt wide right, LSU pulled within 24-21 on Leavitt’s 26-yard pass to Ole Miss transfer Winston Watkins Jr., who made a leaping, twisting catch near the right corner of the end zone and touched one foot down.LSU was driving to potentially take the lead when star tight end Trey’Dez Green injured his right knee on a first-down catch in Ole Miss territory.
Summary from source