LSU fans got some encouraging news on Thursday, as the Tigers upgraded starting quarterback Sam Leavitt’s status from doubtful to questionable for Saturday’s rivalry game at Ole Miss. Leavitt was initially listed as doubtful on the availability report Wednesday night, but he and starting linebacker TJ Dottery were bumped up to questionable on Thursday.
Updated injury report:
The nature of the injury remains unclear, though Leavitt is reportedly dealing with a sore throwing shoulder as well as back spasms. He missed Wednesday’s practice but participated in a walkthrough on Thursday, upgrading his status from doubtful to questionable. Leavitt didn’t appear to be in pain during last weekend’s win over Louisiana Tech, and Lane Kiffin never mentioned an injury during his Monday press conference.
That timeline has fueled plenty of skepticism about whether this is a real injury concern or classic Kiffin playing mind games. In 2024, Kiffin listed wide receiver Jordan Watkins as doubtful ahead of a big game against Georgia, but he ended up playing and having a big impact in the game. Because of this, people believe this could be another case of Lane Kiffin trickery. On the other side, sources on the Ole Miss staff told ESPN’s Pete Thamel that they weren’t convinced Leavitt’s status was sincere.
Whatever the truth is, this just adds to the buildup of the game with the stakes being enormous. If Leavitt can’t go, LSU would turn to sophomore Landen Clark as their starter. LSU and Ole Miss kick off Saturday night in Oxford in a top-10 matchup that just got a lot more interesting.
— Eric Palmer, TigerSources