Simmons Returns to Ole Miss to Face Chambliss — SkimNews
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- Austin Simmons returns to Oxford as Missouri's starter on Saturday, facing Trinidad Chambliss, who took over after Simmons hurt his ankle at Kentucky in Week 3, then threw for 3,937 yards, finished eighth in Heisman voting, and led Ole Miss to the College Football Playoff semifinals.
- Trinidad Chambliss was granted a sixth year of eligibility by a judge that February, the same month Simmons signed with Missouri four days after entering the transfer portal on Jan. 2 with a do-not-contact tag — with Lane Kiffin having already left for LSU in December and defensive coordinator Pete Golding promoted to Rebels head coach.
- Simmons and Chambliss enter Saturday statistically almost identical, separated by one passing yard: Simmons has 1,434 yards with 14 touchdowns and one interception, while Chambliss has 1,435 yards with 11 touchdowns and four picks, though Simmons has played one more game.
- WR Cayden Lee and CB Chris Graves Jr. followed the QB they backed up from Ole Miss to Missouri; Lee now leads Mizzou with 42 catches for 616 yards and five touchdowns, putting him on the Biletnikoff Award's midseason watch list after a 44-catch, 635-yard season for the Rebels.
- Missouri RB Jamal Roberts arrives with back-to-back 200-yard rushing games — 211 against Florida and 222 versus Texas A&M — a first for any Missouri running back, and he faces an Ole Miss rush defense that ranks last in the SEC and 111th nationally at 176.4 yards allowed per game.
- Lane Kiffin, now 4-2 at LSU, compared the Simmons-Chambliss quarterback room to his old Alabama QB rotations (Blake Sims, Jake Coker, Jalen Hurts), calling Simmons a future first-round pick whose accuracy he likened to Tua Tagovailoa's.
Why it matters: Simmons returns to the stadium where he lost the job, facing the QB who replaced him with the two passers separated by exactly one yard (1,434 to 1,435) and both teams at 2-1 in SEC play. Missouri brings the SEC's hottest rushing attack (Roberts' back-to-back 200-yard games) into a date with the league's worst run defense, making Saturday a swing game in the conference pecking order and College Football Playoff race.
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