This is the one that’s been circled since the schedule dropped. No. 8 Ole Miss (2-0) hosts No. 7 LSU (2-0) on Saturday night at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC — and College GameDay is rolling into town for it. Two undefeated top-10 teams, the Magnolia Bowl on the line, and a storyline that writes itself. Hotty Toddy.
A Top-10 Magnolia Bowl — And a Homecoming Nobody Scripted
It has been 64 years since Ole Miss and LSU met with both teams ranked in the top 10, and the wait ends under the lights in Oxford. Then there’s the subplot everybody’s talking about: Lane Kiffin is back at Vaught-Hemingway, this time in the visitors’ headset. Kiffin left for the LSU job ahead of last season’s College Football Playoff and now returns to the stadium where he went 55-19 and stacked three straight 10-win seasons. On the other sideline is Pete Golding, promoted from defensive coordinator, who wasted no time proving the Rebels didn’t miss a beat — he took Ole Miss all the way to the Playoff semifinal in his first run at the wheel. Coach against former boss, program against former coach. You could not ask for a better Week 3.
The Tigers Coming to Town
LSU arrives 2-0 and ranked a spot ahead of the Rebels, but the Tigers have not looked airtight getting here. Quarterback Sam Leavitt has flashed the arm that made him one of the league’s most talked-about transfers, yet he has also put the ball in harm’s way early, including a bumpy afternoon against Louisiana Tech. There’s extra needle to this one, too: a handful of former Rebels now wear purple and gold and are making the trip back to Oxford to face the team they left. Vegas says LSU by a field goal, with the total sitting at 58.5 — in other words, the market sees a near coin flip. Treat this one as a true toss-up.
What to Watch for the Rebels
It starts with the run game. Kewan Lacy is the engine — a Doak Walker finalist a year ago and the preseason favorite for the award this fall after a 1,567-yard, 24-touchdown campaign — and if he’s punishing the LSU front between the tackles, everything else opens up. Golding has been blunt all week that the Rebels’ biggest opponent right now is themselves. Clean up the self-inflicted stuff — the pre-snap penalties, the drops, the stalled drives — and this is a team built to win a September rock fight. Defensively, keeping Leavitt uncomfortable and forcing another one of those early mistakes could decide the whole thing.
What It Means
Win this, and Ole Miss doesn’t just take the Magnolia Bowl back — it announces itself as a real playoff contender with a signature top-10 scalp and a statement against the man who used to run the show. Lose it, and there’s still a long SEC road ahead with no margin surrendered yet at 2-1. Either way, Oxford is going to be electric on Saturday night. Get there early, stay loud, and let’s send the Tigers home. Hotty Toddy.
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