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LSU head coach Lane Kiffin makes his long-awaited return to Oxford, Miss., this Saturday night to take on his former Rebel team. It will be an expectedly heated atmosphere for the massive game between the No. 8 Tigers and No. 9 Rebels, with real College Football Playoff implications.
But on Wednesday evening, LSU added some major intrigue to Saturday night's matchup. Just three days before kickoff, starting Tigers quarterback Sam Leavitt was listed as "doubtful" on the team's initial injury report.
Given Kiffin's history with using injury reports for gamesmanship, the validity of Leavitt's injury was immediately called into question. As if we needed another major storyline surrounding this game.
Is Sam Leavitt's injury fact or fiction?
That's a question we may not know the answer to until kickoff on Saturday night. On Wednesday evening, Leavitt being listed as doubtful on the Tigers' initial availability report came as a shock to many.
A shocker on the SEC injury report, with LSU starting quarterback Sam Leavitt listed as doubtful. pic.twitter.com/jb7PMrblqR
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) September 17, 2026Leavitt has started in each of LSU's last two games against Clemson and Louisiana Tech, having thrown for 574 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions, including another 135 rushing yards with five scores.
But almost immediately, several folks started to question the validity of his status. Thamel added that "no one" on Ole Miss' staff believes that Levitt is actually questionable. That's partially due to Kiffin's history of injury reports while he was at Ole Miss.
Lane Kiffin's history of trolling via injury report
Kiffin has had at least a couple instances of putting out questionable injury reports, although he has not been publicly punished by the SEC.
He once put 26 players on an injury report and most of them suited up
During Ole Miss' game against Georgia in 2024, he placed nearly a quarter or his roster on one injury report:
There are 26 players on the Ole Miss injury report, which is some type of record in the short history of SEC injury reports. https://t.co/RXycO5xHzN pic.twitter.com/t5AbvtKhH2
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) November 7, 2024Of those doubtful players listed, receiver Jordan Watkins did suit up. In fact, he finished with four catches for 68 yards. Safety Yam Banks and Jadon Canaday did not play in Ole Miss' 28-10 win.
Austin Simmons injury controversy
Last season, quarterback Trinidad Chambliss was the backup quarterback behind Austin Simmons. In Ole Miss' Week 3 game against Arkansas, Simmons was left off the Rebels' final injury report, despite him being considered a game-time decision:
Here is the final availability report for Arkansas-Ole Miss. Still no Austin Simmons on it, despite reports today that he's a game-time decision & reports that Trinidad Chambliss is expected to start. pic.twitter.com/en40nPPoXb
— Ethan Westerman (@EthWestNWA) September 13, 2025Chambliss started under center and helped lead the Rebels to a 41-35 victory. Simmons did come in for one pass, a four-yard touchdown he threw in the second quarter. Chambliss became Ole Miss' starter for the remainder of the season.
Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz referenced Kiffin's use of injury reports
Drinkwitz, when his team was set to face South Carolina without quarterback LaNorris Sellers, had this to say about Kiffin's injury reports, throwing a stray bullet at the LSU coach for seemingly no reason when asked about the legitimacy of South Carolina's report.
“I’m not going to step into Lane’s business here, so I’m not going in there,” Drinkwitz joked last September. “It’s not really for us. It wasn’t created for the coaches. It was created for transparency because of other industries that are tied to college football. And so I would say you’d have to ask those guys.”
Reaction to Sam Leavitt being listed as 'doubtful'
Of course, the internet had a field day with the news.
Sam Leavitt right before kickoff: https://t.co/jHNwgSKRh6 pic.twitter.com/NmIH8lfLyn
— College Sports Only (@CSOonX) September 17, 2026Sam Leavitt coming out for pre-game https://t.co/NK7McFDmM4 pic.twitter.com/i0kE6VArzP
— LSU Football Report (@LSUReport) September 17, 2026What is Sam Leavitt's injury?
In yet another twist in this story, On3's Pete Nakos reported that Leavitt is dealing with shoulder soreness and has been "limited" in practice.
Per CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz reports Leavitt has an "upper body injury," and adds that the signal didn't even throw during Wednesday’s practice.
Matt Moscana of Louisiana Sports Net reported that Leavitt did not even practice on Wednesday:
NEW: LSU QB Sam Leavitt did not practice Wednesday due to an undisclosed injury, multiple sources confirm.
He received treatment and will be reevaluated today.
Additionally, LB TJ Dottery was also held out of Wednesday’s practice.
Sources are hopeful both players will be…
This video of Leavitt after last week's game was also making the rounds on social media:
Here was Sam Leavitt after the end of the La Tech game pic.twitter.com/T6UoDZj9JQ
— Baton Rouge Boot Krewe Media (@BatonRougeBKM) September 17, 2026What are the SEC rules about inaccurate injury reports?
The SEC will impose stiff penalties for those schools and coaches who do not provide accurate availability status. Via the commissioner's regulations:
Failure to provide accurate and timely information on an Availability Report will subject the offending institution, and, if appropriate, the offending head coach, to accountability measures which shall
be applied at the Commissioner’s discretion and may include private or public reprimands, fines, or other action.
Measures other than financial penalties (e.g., a warning and/or continuing education for relevant institutional personnel) may be imposed in instances in which a violation did not materially impact
competition or the violation resulted from an inadvertent mistake, and such incidents shall not count towards the progressive system for financial penalties.
The financial penalties are as follows:
- First Offense: Up to a $25,000 penalty
- Second Offense: Up to a $50,000 penalty
- Third Offense and Any Successive Offense: Up to a $100,000 penalty
The injury reports fall under the conference's duty to act in good faith clause, stating that school personnel "shall act in good faith to comply with this policy. Acts of gamesmanship intended to hide a student-athlete’s participation status for competitive or strategic reasons are prohibited."
The conference adds that a school must "avoid a surprise" with respect to athletes with "high-profile" status, which Leavitt would absolutely fall under.
The SEC implemented availability reporting protocols in 2024.
According to the conference, the reports are required by all 16 teams no later than 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday leading up to a conference game. On the day of the actual game, an updated availability report must be released no later than 90 minutes before kickoff. So LSU's likely last injury report before kickoff will come at 6 p.m. ET.
Per the conference rules, a player is considered "doubtful" if they are unlikely to play or given a 25% chance to play. Questionable is described as uncertain to play, with a 50% chance to play, whereas probable is when a player has a 75% chance to play.
Per the SEC official policy for injury reporting, if a player has a chance to play, they should not be listed as out, but instead should be given the doubtful designation.
Those penalties are intended to curb potential "gamesmanship" by opposing coaches seeking an advantage over their opponent.
LSU QB depth chart
Prior to LSU's game last Saturday against Louisiana Tech, here's how it shook out:
| QB | Player | Year |
| No. 1 | Sam Leavitt | RS Junior |
| No. 2 | Husan Longstreet | RS Freshman |
| No. 3 | Landen Clark | RS Freshman |
Husan Longstreet is a redshirt freshman from Corona, Calif., who transferred from USC this offseason. For the Trojans last season, he appeared in four games.
He finished 13-of-15 passing with 103 yards and a touchdown, including a pair of rushing touchdowns. Coming out of high school, he was rated by 247Sports as a five-star quarterback, ranked as the No. 4 overall signal-caller from 2025, and was the No. 2 overall prospect from California.
Landen Clark is also a redshirt freshman, transferring over from Elon this offseason.
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