LSU QB Leavitt Doubtful for Ole Miss; Injury Unclear — SkimNews
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- LSU on Wednesday night listed starting quarterback Sam Leavitt as doubtful for Saturday's rivalry game at Ole Miss, with the exact nature of his injury unclear.
- Leavitt completed last week's 45-14 win over Louisiana Tech and spoke to reporters afterward without appearing to be in pain, and coach Lane Kiffin made no mention of any injuries at his Monday news conference.
- The SEC defines "doubtful" as a 25% chance to play and explicitly prohibits availability-report gamesmanship, with penalties for inaccurate disclosures ranging from $25,000 to $100,000 at commissioner Greg Sankey's discretion.
- The point spread swung from LSU -3 to as low as -1 after the injury report dropped, settling back at LSU -2.5 by Thursday morning.
- Leavitt, the top transfer QB of the offseason and a former Big 12 Freshman of the Year at Arizona State, followed a three-touchdown, no-turnover Clemson debut with a 25-of-38, 344-yard, three-INT performance against Louisiana Tech.
- Backups Husan Longstreet (one career pass attempt, a 33-yard completion) and Landen Clark (7-of-10 for 109 yards and one TD across two games) remain largely untested.
- Linebacker TJ Dottery, who leads LSU in tackles, was listed as questionable for the same game.
Why it matters: The doubtful tag carries a 25% chance-to-play designation under SEC rules, but the timing — coming with no visible injury signal from Leavitt or Kiffin — opens LSU to a gamesmanship probe, with penalties up to $100,000 and potential accountability measures against Kiffin at Sankey's discretion. The market already reacted, moving the spread two full points within hours of the report.
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