LSU upgrades Leavitt to questionable amid Ole Miss suspicion — SkimNews
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- Sam Leavitt was upgraded from doubtful to questionable for Saturday's primetime game at Ole Miss alongside starting linebacker TJ Dottery, who leads LSU in tackles, after initially appearing on the SEC availability report Wednesday night.
- Lane Kiffin has not publicly addressed Leavitt's injury despite a Monday news conference and his Thursday radio show, and Leavitt showed no visible signs of pain during last weekend's win over Louisiana Tech.
- Ole Miss coaching staff told ESPN's Pete Thamel on Thursday morning they weren't convinced the availability report listing was "sincere," invoking the SEC's prohibition on gamesmanship intended to hide a player"s true participation status.
- SEC policy defines "doubtful" as a 25% chance to play and bars acts "intended to hide a student-athlete"s true participation status for competitive or strategic reasons," with penalties ranging from $25,000 to $100,000 and commissioner Greg Sankey holding discretion over additional "accountability measures" for head coaches.
- Leavitt, widely regarded as the top transfer quarterback this past offseason, has scored seven touchdowns in two games (two passing, five rushing); LSU's backup options are freshman Husan Longstreet and sophomore Landen Clark, with Clark having attempted 10 passes this season compared to Longstreet's one.
- The SEC will release two more availability reports — Friday night and 90 minutes before Saturday's kickoff in Oxford — before the game status is finalized.
Why it matters: With a top-transfer QB and a primetime SEC rivalry game at stake, the accusation of gamesmanship carries concrete consequences: penalties for inaccurate reports range from $25,000 to $100,000, and Sankey can layer "accountability measures" on Kiffin personally. Because the SEC requires extra good-faith disclosures for high-profile players like starting quarterbacks, the combination of an unspecified injury, a silent coach, and a skeptical opponent gives the gamesmanship claim real regulatory teeth.
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