# SEC Football Preview: LSU Tigers at Ole Miss Rebels **Published:** 2026-09-13 — **By:** Stacy Stanfield **Category:** games — **Type:** game-preview **Source:** https://secscouts.com/news/sec-football-preview-lsu-tigers-at-ole-miss-rebels **Teams:** [LSU](https://secscouts.com/lsu/), [Ole Miss](https://secscouts.com/ole-miss/) --- # SEC Football Preview: No. 11 LSU at No. 9 Ole Miss The SEC season opens with a heavyweight collision Thursday night, as the No. 11 LSU Tigers (2-0, 0-0 SEC) travel to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium to face the No. 9 Ole Miss Rebels (2-0, 0-0 SEC) on September 17. Two unbeaten, top-15 teams. One conference opener. No margin for a slow start. ## Matchup Overview Both teams arrive at 2-0, but the stakes on Thursday go well beyond a clean September record. This is the SEC opener for both programs, and in a league where every conference loss carries championship-race weight, the winner banks an early edge in the standings and a top-15 victory for its postseason resume. History adds an edge. When these teams last met on September 26, 2025, Ole Miss defended its home field with a 24-19 win over LSU in Oxford. The Tigers return to Vaught-Hemingway looking to flip that result; the Rebels aim to prove that outcome was no one-off. Lane Kiffin's Tigers have leaned on a balanced attack through two games, while Pete Golding's Rebels have generated production at a volume few teams in the country can match — two Ole Miss players are averaging more than 270 yards per game apiece. ## Keys to the Game **For LSU:** The Tigers' formula runs through Sam Leavitt, who is producing 287 yards per game — the highest individual figure on either roster. But what separates LSU is the tandem behind him: Grant Chadwick (93 yards per game) and Dilin Jones (89.5 yards per game) give the Tigers a combined 182.5 yards per game of complementary production. If Chadwick and Jones stay on schedule, Leavitt operates against a defense that can't sell out to stop him. LSU wins this game by making Ole Miss defend all three. **For Ole Miss:** The Rebels' offense presents a problem most defenses haven't solved: two players — Trinidad Chambliss (280.5 yards per game) and Austin Simmons (272 yards per game) — each producing at an elite clip, plus Deuce Alexander adding 117.5 yards per game. Ole Miss needs all three levels of that production to show up Thursday. If Chambliss and Simmons both hit their averages, LSU's defense faces a math problem with no good answers. ## Key Matchups **1. Sam Leavitt (287 YDS/game) vs. Trinidad Chambliss (280.5 YDS/game).** The headline duel. Just 6.5 yards per game separate the two most productive players in this matchup. Whichever one sustains his average against a ranked defense likely decides who controls the scoreboard. **2. Deuce Alexander (117.5 YDS/game) vs. LSU's containment.** Alexander is the Rebels' third pillar, and 117.5 yards per game is production LSU cannot afford to concede while its defense is preoccupied with Chambliss and Simmons. If Alexander reaches his season average, Ole Miss almost certainly reaches 30 points. **3. LSU's tandem — Grant Chadwick (93) and Dilin Jones (89.5) — vs. the Ole Miss front.** The Tigers' two-man complement is the great equalizer in this game. Their combined 182.5 yards per game keeps LSU out of obvious long-yardage situations and keeps Leavitt in rhythm. If Ole Miss holds the pair well under that combined number, LSU becomes one-dimensional. **4. Austin Simmons (272 YDS/game) vs. LSU's second-level answers.** Most game plans account for one high-volume producer. Ole Miss forces opponents to account for two. How LSU allocates attention between Chambliss and Simmons — and what Simmons does with the softer coverage — may be the quietest deciding factor Thursday night. ## Players to Watch **LSU: Sam Leavitt (287 YDS/game).** No player in this game carries a larger share of his team's output. Leavitt has out-produced every other player on either roster through two weeks, and on the road against a top-10 opponent, LSU will need every yard of that average. **Ole Miss: Trinidad Chambliss (280.5 YDS/game).** Chambliss headlines the nation's most balanced high-volume attack, and he does it with Simmons and Alexander drawing defensive attention alongside him. At home, in an SEC opener, expect the Rebels to put the game in his hands early. ## Prediction **Ole Miss 31, LSU 27.** This pick comes down to arithmetic. Ole Miss brings two players averaging 270-plus yards per game — Chambliss at 280.5 and Simmons at 272 — plus Alexander's 117.5, and no defense LSU has faced this season prepares it for that distribution of production. LSU's counterpunch is real: Leavitt's 287 yards per game leads all players in this matchup, and the Chadwick-Jones tandem gives the Tigers the balance to trade scores deep into the fourth quarter. But the Rebels won the last meeting in this stadium, 24-19 in September 2025, and the home crowd on a Thursday night tilts the close calls. LSU keeps it within one score behind Leavitt's volume; Ole Miss's three-pronged production proves one weapon too many. Rebels survive, 31-27, and take the early inside track in the SEC race. --- *Original article: [SEC Football Preview: LSU Tigers at Ole Miss Rebels](https://secscouts.com/news/sec-football-preview-lsu-tigers-at-ole-miss-rebels) — SEC Scouts*