LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt apparently has made a quick recovery throughout the week. Leavitt was removed from the Tigers’ SEC availability report on Friday night, meaning he is good to go against No. 8 Ole Miss on Saturday night.
Leavitt was listed as doubtful on the Wednesday night due to an upper body injury. He participated in Thursday’s walkthrough and was upgraded to questionable that night.
Leavitt didn’t appear to suffer an injury in LSU’s Week 2 win over Louisiana Tech, and his appearance on the Wednesday availability report prompted questions about whether Lane Kiffin was engaging in gamesmanship ahead of his return to Oxford.
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“He might be telling the truth, and he might be telling the truth because he knows that nobody’s going to believe him,” a source told CBS Sports.
Leavitt’s expedited progress will certainly raise some eyebrows around the conference. Players who begin the week with a “doubtful” tag rarely end up playing in the game, but Leavitt was off the report entirely just 48 hours later.
“During the 2025 SEC football season, nine percent of starters listed as ‘doubtful’ on Wednesday’s Initial Report played in the game (4/46 players),” an SEC spokesperson told CBS Sports. “On a national scale, during the 2025-26 College Football Playoff, one of six (17%) starter-level players listed as ‘Doubtful’ on the Initial Report played in the game.”
Regardless of whether Leavitt’s status for Saturday night was ever really in doubt, he will be on the field for LSU this weekend. After an impeccable debut in Week 1 against Clemson, Leavitt came back down to Earth a bit last week with three interceptions against Louisiana Tech.
“Sam’s gotta do a better job taking care of the ball,” Kiffin said after the 45-14 win. “We made a lot of yards, and we were smooth through that at times, but obviously, the red zone is where you gotta finish drives. So maybe it was perfect for us that we needed something like that, ’cause it’s a game we play good on offense in games.”
LSU and Ole Miss kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday (ABC, stream for free on Fubo), and there’s enough venom in Oxford that the police have called in reinforcements.
