The LSU Tigers saw some positive movement for star quarterback Sam Leavitt on Thursday, after a health scare the day before.
It has been a whirlwind 24 hours for LSU Tigers fans as they wait to see if starting quarterback Sam Leavitt can suit up against the Ole Miss Rebels this weekend. After receiving a surprising "doubtful" status on the initial injury report, Leavitt was able to return to practice on Thursday, per LouisianaSports' Matt Moscona.
Leavitt missed practice on Wednesday with a reported shoulder injury. Because of the nature of this game, there was a large amount of skepticism about how "doubtful" he actually was for Saturday. Now, a day later, he's back to practice. It'll be interesting to see if his status is upgraded on the official injury report release.
There has been a ton of gamesmanship around this matchup already, so it's not surprising to see people lump this in with the rest of what's going on. This week has already seen a Tigers player served with court papers by the Rebels over an NIL dispute.
As if this rivalry couldn't get any more contentious before this year, it only ticked up a notch when Lane Kiffin took over at LSU. Now these are two top teams that hate each other's guys, playing in Oxford. The Tigers not being able to have their star quarterback for this game would be disappointing for many.
Leavitt has been far from perfect this year, but he still likely gives LSU the best chance to win this game. His three turnovers in the first half against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs loom large on his stat sheet, as he'd be having a pretty solid start through the air. He's made up for some of it with his legs, picking up five touchdowns over two games. It's that running game that could have him hurt now, though, as he is very willing to throw his body around.
It won't be the end of the world for the Tigers if he ends up not able to play, though, because they have two quarterbacks behind him who could be starting at a lot of schools around the country.
Landen Clark provides a massive arm, Leavitt-like running ability and a year of starting experience at the FCS level. He has a ton of potential. Speaking of potential, though, they also have former five-star recruit Husan Longstreet. Longstreet transferred over from the USC Trojans.
Right now, it certainly seems like LSU is going to do everything they can to make sure that Leavitt is able to suit up this weekend, though.
