‘Put Out a Belly Laugh’ — Paul Finebaum Refuses To Take Lane Kiffin Seriously After Mysterious Injury to LSU QB Sam Leavitt
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In one of the most anticipated games of the season, the 8th-ranked Ole Miss Rebels will play host to the 7th-ranked LSU Tigers on Saturday night.
LSU, of course, hired Lane Kiffin away from Ole Miss, setting the stage for a nasty rivalry to take another step. Kiffin has once again added more intrigue to what already should be one of the bigger sporting events of the season, but listed starting quarterback Sam Leavitt as doubtful on LSU’s injury report.
Paul Finebaum Won’t Take Lane Kiffin’s Listing of LSU QB Sam Leavitt as Doubtful Seriously
When Kiffin decided to leave the Rebels to head to Baton Rouge, LSU committed to spending money on players, and they did just that, putting together both an impressive recruiting and transfer class, headlined by former Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt.
Leavitt previously led the Sun Devils into the playoffs in the 2024 season and was considered by many to be the top signal-caller on the market.
He made his debut against Clemson, completing 16-of-28 passes for 230 yards with a touchdown and an interception while rushing for another 113 yards and 2 touchdowns on 12 carries, in the dominating 51-10 victory.
Leavitt followed it up by going 25-of-38 for 344 yards and a touchdown in a 45-14 win over Louisiana Tech last week, but had his share of struggles, tossing 3 interceptions and being sacked 5 times. Now, he has been listed as doubtful.
He has an upper-body injury and did not throw in Wednesday’s practice, according to Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports.
ESPN’s Paul Finebaum was asked about the situation on Thursday. After telling them that he believes only Kiffin knows if anything is going on with Leavitt, Finebaum gave Kiffin his flowers.
“Instead of overreacting which we all have, we should all just out a belly laugh and say way to go Lane, you did it again,” Finebaum said.
“People around the country just don’t believe anything Lane Kiffin puts out,” Finebaum explained. “You guys follow every imaginable sport. Can you imagine in the World Series or the NFL, a major game where something this significant happened without the coach putting out a statement, without the coaching saying anything?”
Still, Finebaum believes this is just another type of gamesmanship from college football’s most talked-about coach.
“Lane Kiffin is the king of media,” Finebaum continued. “He knows how to send out a message and the fact that he did, you have to be skeptical even though we all want to make sure we’re saying the right things in case Sam Leavitt is actually hurt.”
With Kiffin’s past, it’s hard not to think this is anything more than gamesmanship, but we’ll have to wait until Saturday night to see if that, in fact, is the case.
The Tigers and Rebels will kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday night, and the game will air on ABC.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.
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