The nearly 10-month wait for Lane Kiffin's return to Oxford is almost over.
No. 7 LSU at No. 8 Mississippi would be the nation’s game of the week under normal circumstances, this being the first top-10 matchup between the teams since 1962.
There has been nothing normal about the build-up for Saturday night's game. It started last Nov. 30 when college football's bad boy left the Rebels to take the LSU job just as the team he had coached six years was days away from its first appearance in the College Football Playoff.
Mississippi fans are still mad about being spurned, the narrative goes, and are lying in wait. Reports of beefed-up security at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium morphed into hyperbole when Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry joked this week that the National Guard might be needed to protect Kiffin.
Kiffin paid obligatory lip service to this game being about the players, not him and his Mississippi successor, Pete Golding. He's right when he says it's not about Golding. But Kiffin is a familar spectacle, most recently by trying to bring in players who had been in NFL training camps this summer. The ensuing legal battle put LSU on the cusp of being voted out of the Southeastern Conference before the school stood down.
Yes, Mississippi fans are eager to give Kiffin the comeuppance they believe he deserves.
Not to be forgotten are two other Top 25 matchups: No. 22 Houston at No. 13 Texas Tech on Friday and No. 16 SMU at No. 23 Louisville on Saturday.
Best game
No. 7 LSU (2-0) at No. 8 Mississippi (2-0), Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
For all the hoopla surrounding this game, what happens on the field is what matters — maybe a lot when playoff selections and seedings come out in December.
The Tigers had no answer for Trinidad Chambliss last year. He accounted for 385 total yards without getting sacked in the Rebels' 24-19 win. Blake Baker, retained as LSU defensive coordinator, will have a plan to turn up the pressure on Chambliss. Princewill Umanmielen, who followed Kiffin from Mississippi, leads the nation with five of the Tigers' FBS-high 12 sacks.
LSU needs Sam Leavitt to be sharper. Leavitt has thrown four interceptions, tied for most in the country, and got picked off three times in the first half by Louisiana Tech last week. As for Mississippi's defense, forget about last week against woeful Charlotte. The Rebels can't afford to have the defense that missed 19 tackles and got shredded in the secondary by Louisville show up against the Tigers.
Heisman Trophy watch
Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith strengthened his Heisman candidacy despite his team's 24-23 loss at Texas.
Smith, who had been all but shut down in two previous meetings with the Longhorns, finished with eight catches for 164 yards and a touchdown. He caught six balls for 110 yards in the first two quarters, and his 19-yard TD with 10 seconds left in the half put the Buckeyes up 20-3.
Julian Sayin found it more difficult to get the ball to Smith in the second half, and Smith's single drop on 15 targets came in the fourth quarter while Ohio State was trying to hold off Texas.
Smith is out to a strong start with 16 catches for 315 yards and three TDs in two games, and he is 26 yards away from breaking Michael Jenkins’ school career record of 2,898 yards from 2000-03.
Numbers to know
4 — Interceptions by California's Kingston Lopa, most in the nation, after he picked off three passes against Syracuse.
5-8 — Florida State's record since it beat Alabama last year. The teams meet in Tuscaloosa.
8 — No. 5 Miami's consecutive wins against Wake Forest since a 1944 loss entering Friday's game in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
28.9 — Nation-leading yards per play by Oregon State freshman WR Jesse Legree, who has 13 catches for 376 yards.
39 — Texas' win streak in nonconference games against in-state opponents since a 20-20 tie with Houston in 1968. The No. 1 Longhorns host UTSA.
Under the radar
Florida (2-0) at Auburn (2-0), Saturday, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)
This is a good measuring-stick game for a couple programs in the middle class of the SEC that haven't squared off since 2019 or met at Jordan-Hare Stadium since 2011. Both have first-year coaches who know each other well.
Jon Sumrall's Gators have blown out two overmatched opponents by a combined 94 points. Alex Golesh's Tigers escaped Atlanta with a one-point win over Baylor in the opener and put up over 600 yards in a rout of Southern Mississippi.
In 2024, Sumrall's Tulane team beat Golesh's South Florida team 45-10. Last year, Golesh's Bulls knocked off the Gators 18-16 in Gainesville in the first of three straight losses that hastened Billy Napier's firing.
Gators QB Aaron Philo, who will make his first road start, has completed 76% of his passes with five TDs. Byrum Brown, who has been Golesh's starting QB for all or part of four seasons, was a 1,000-yard rusher last year and will strain a Florida defense that's been stout against the run so far.
Hot seat
Dabo Swinney's future at Clemson will become even more grim if the Tigers don't beat North Carolina at home Saturday.
Clemson is beginning a difficult stretch to open ACC play, with a Friday road game at California next week and a visit from No. 5 Miami on Oct. 3. The Tigers are a 3.5-point favorite against Carolina, which is 2-0 and trying to gain traction under Bill Belichick.
A 22-7 win over Georgia Southern didn't instill much confidence in the Clemson faithful following the 51-10 drubbing at LSU. The offense has been so shaky that Swinney is making a move at quarterback, giving freshman Tait Reynolds the start this week.
Swinney is 8-7 since taking the Tigers to the College Football Playoff in 2024. The sport is in a much different place than it was when he won two national titles and was in two other championship games from 2015-19. He has faced constant questions about his ability and willingness to adjust, especially when it comes to the transfer portal. His buyout is $57 million if he's fired before Dec. 31.
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