Lebby ran Kiffin's offense at Ole Miss in 2020 and 2021, and the Rebels' 2020 attack set an SEC record for total offense in conference play. Kiffin called him "a huge part of our success there" this week. Now Mississippi State's head coach, he leads the Bulldogs into a top-25 showdown with LSU on Saturday.
"I don't like playing against him because they go so fast," Kiffin said this week. LSU (4-2, 1-2 SEC) is reeling after an overtime loss at Kentucky last week, and finds itself in a familiar place under previous coaches: two losses at the midpoint of the season. It wasn't supposed to start this way for Kiffin, who took over a program with deep pockets and turned the roster over into one of the most talented in the country.
A third conference loss in Kiffin's first season would leave almost no margin for November, with Alabama and Texas still coming to Baton Rouge. Mississippi State (4-1, 2-1) has already won two SEC games, exceeding the one Lebby collected in his first two seasons combined. Alabama rode into Starkville and won 56-23 two weeks ago, and Kamario Taylor, the sophomore quarterback who spent September in the Heisman Trophy conversation, finished the day on the sideline with a boot on his right foot.
Two weeks later, nobody outside the Bulldogs' building knows if he will play. Lebby said the SEC availability report would answer that question. Kamario Taylor's right foot: Taylor has thrown for 1,450 yards and an SEC-best 17 touchdowns with four interceptions.
He's thrown three touchdowns in the last five games, the longest stretch since LSU's Jayden Daniels in 2023. He first hurt his foot in the win over Missouri, and it showed against the Tide. He was sacked five times and finished with minus-26 rushing yards before leaving the game.
If he can't play, Lebby's options are redshirt freshman Parker Puckett and AJ Swann, who spent a season at LSU. Where is Mississippi State's ground game? Fluff Bothwell has 403 yards and three touchdowns on 74 carries, but he had only one carry against Alabama and spent most of the afternoon with a boot on his left foot.
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