LSU Preparing For 2 Ole Miss Quarterbacks, And 1 Is A Dangerous Dual Threat

By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

LSU football fans may be pulling for Ole Miss quarterback Austin Simmons, the original starter for the 2025 season, to come back from an ankle injury that kept him sidelined last week.

And if Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin is telling the truth, Simmons will start if he is healthy when the No. 13 Rebels (4-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) host No. 4 LSU (4-0, 1-0 SEC) on Saturday (2:30 p.m., ABC).

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“At 100 percent, he is our starting quarterback, but we don’t know what percentage he’ll be,” Kiffin said Monday of Simmons (6-foot-4, 215 pounds), a redshirt sophomore who started the Rebels’ first two games before injuring his ankle in a 30-23 win at Kentucky on Sept. 6 in game two.

“We’ll have to evaluate his health and then make a decision,” Kiffin said.

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But Kiffin’s other option is senior Trinidad Chambliss (6-0, 200), a transfer from Division II Ferris State in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Chambliss has put up significantly better numbers passing and running in his two starts, and looks more dangerous, particularly considering LSU’s trouble with running quarterbacks last year. So, look for Chambliss to start, even if Simmons is healthy.

Simmons, who played little as Jaxson Dart’s backup in 2024 and redshirted in 2023, has completed 34 of 56 passes for 580 yards with four interceptions and four touchdowns in two starts and three games this season.

In the Kentucky win, Simmons hit 13 of 24 passes for 235 yards with two interceptions and rushed eight times for 44 yards before injuring his ankle in the fourth quarter. Simmons returned the next week for a brief relief appearance at Arkansas, completing one pass in one attempt for a 4-yard touchdown and rushed once for eight yards in a 41-35 win. But he aggravated the ankle injury.

Chambliss, meanwhile, has completed 42 of 62 passes for 719 yards and four touchdowns with zero interceptions while rushing 36 times for 195 yards and two touchdowns. He led Ferris State to the national championship last season, throwing for 2,901 yards and 26 touchdowns and rushing for 1,019 yards and 25 touchdowns.

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“Certainly an offense that again has put up incredible numbers,” LSU coach Brian Kelly said Monday. “And they do it with two quarterbacks now, which is very difficult to do. But they’ve managed it quite well with Simmons and Chambliss.”

Ole Miss is No. 9 in the nation in total offense with 543.3 yards a game, 12th in scoring at 44.8 points a game and 14th in passing with 324.8 yards a game. Most of those yards have come with Chambliss playing, so expect him to start Saturday, regardless of what Kiffin may say up until Saturday.

“Both of them have been extremely effective and efficient throwing and running,” Kelly said. “So, you’ve got a dual-threat situation.”

LSU struggled against talented running quarterbacks last season several times, particularly in losses to Texas A&M and Alabama. But LSU is better at linebacker with the speedy Harold Perkins Jr., who missed all but the first four games last season with a knee injury, and in the secondary with transfer safeties A.J. Haulcy and Tamarcus Cooley and cornerback Mansoor Delane.

Florida dual threat quarterback DJ Lagway rushed for just 19 yards on nine carries and was sacked three times in a 20-10 loss at LSU two weeks ago. He also threw five interceptions.

LSU’s defense did not fare well in its last trip to Ole Miss, losing 55-49 in 2023 as the Tigers allowed an LSU record 706 yards. Dart threw for 389 and four touchdowns and rushed for 53 yards on seven carries with a touchdown. Then-LSU defensive coordinator Matt House did not make it to the next season and was replaced by Missouri DC Blake Baker, who is in his second season with the Tigers.

So far, Baker’s defense is vastly improved after a marginal upgrade last season. LSU is No. 9 in the nation in scoring defense now with 9.3 points allowed a game, No. 10 against the run with 64 yards allowed a game and No. 17 in total defense with 246.3 yards given up a game.

“You feel better about these games because you’re taking a defense that you know can stand up against the environment, going on the road and all those things,” Kelly said. “We’re a much more more cohesive group. The roster’s better. The players are better. Those were good, tough kids who played hard for us (in 2023), but we were a little short in some areas.”

In under two years, LSU’s defense has gone from one of the worst in the country in 2023 (115th agianst the pass (255.6 yards a game) and 105th in total defense (416.6 yards a game) to one of the best.

“So, we bring a defense with us,” Kelly said. “Now, we’ll have to match. I don’t know about all the points (104 combined in 2023 with 14 touchdowns and 1,343 yards), but we’ve got to score, too. We can’t be scoring a touchdown or 10 points.”

LSU has scored 23 points or less in three of its four wins this season -17-10 at Clemson, 23-7 over 37-point underdog Louisiana Tech and 20-10 over Florida.

“That’s not going to cut it in the SEC,” Kelly said. “So, continue to play at the level we have defensively, and then bring your offense up to the level that it needs to be to win games in the SEC.”