This past weekend’s action raised plenty of questions throughout the college football landscape. One of those big questions unexpectedly came out of Oxford, Mississippi. Coming into the season, everyone at Ole Miss knew that Austin Simmons was the starter, replacing three-year starter Jaxson Dart. Through two games, that was exactly what we all saw. However, following this past weekend’s win over Arkansas, it appears a quarterback controversy may be brewing for the Rebels.
It all started with Simmons injuring his ankle late in week two’s victory at Kentucky. The injury led to questions about whether he would be available against Arkansas. Ultimately, he was sidelined, with Lane Kiffin giving the start to backup Trinidad Chambliss.
Chambliss played well in the win, creating potential questions moving forward for the Rebels.
An Ole Miss Quarterback Controversy
Who is Trinidad Chambliss?
Chambliss is in his first year at Ole Miss, following three seasons at Division II Ferris State, where he started last year as a junior. In his one season as the starter, he led the Bulldogs to a national championship. During the championship run, he passed for 2,925 yards, along with 26 touchdowns and only six interceptions. He also added another 1,019 yards on the ground, with 25 rushing touchdowns. Those numbers proved good enough to win him the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference player of the year award.
Following a great year at Ferris State, he entered the transfer portal and eventually landed in Oxford, where he was primarily expected to be the backup. However, an ankle injury to Simmons threw him into the mix earlier than many people would’ve expected, against SEC rival Arkansas.
Chambliss’ Performance in Win over Razorbacks Raising Questions
Plenty of people would’ve expected to see nerves from Chambliss, entering his first career SEC start. He quickly put those nerves to rest in the Rebels’ 41-35 victory at home over Arkansas. In the win, he threw for 353 yards to go along with one touchdown. He also ran the ball 15 times for another 62 yards and two scores. His performance raised plenty of eyebrows, especially given Simmons’ early-season struggles.
In two games so far as the starter, Simmons has looked decent. But there’s no question he’s been turnover-prone. In those games, he’s thrown for four interceptions, with only three touchdowns. That has led to plenty of questions about his decision-making. Now, to his credit, he did have to come in for part of one possession during the Arkansas win, when Chambliss went out briefly with a thumb issue. On that drive, he led the Rebels to a score, where he found Harrison Wallace wide open in the end zone for a touchdown. The downside of that possession was that Simmons re-aggravated his ankle injury on a designed quarterback run one play before the touchdown pass. Following the score, he could be seen hobbling significantly on the sideline.
Did Kiffin’s Comments Clear Up Quarterback Controversy?
On Monday, Kiffin tried to put to rest the idea of a quarterback controversy in Oxford. He announced that Simmons was expected to start this weekend’s matchup when Ole Miss hosts Tulane. The question is currently whether that’s a legitimate update or whether Kiffin is using a bit of gamesmanship to keep his cards hidden. If you saw the way Simmons was limping on Saturday, you’d likely think it was crazy for him to be named the upcoming starter. However, we’ve all seen weirder things happen in sports.
In the end, only time will tell whether the Rebel head coach was being entirely truthful about the projected starter for Ole Miss’ week four matchup. But what his comments likely did was settle the question of whether there is a legitimate quarterback battle going on in Oxford. Based on his comments, if both are healthy, it’s still Simmons’ job to lose. That itself is sure to bring some questions from the Ole Miss faithful, given Simmons’ turnover problems.
But regardless of the starter, there is a silver lining in all of this for Ole Miss fans. That can be found in the fact that they now know that they have two separate serviceable quarterbacks, if needed. In a sport where quarterback play can sometimes be troublesome, there are certainly worse problems to have.
Main Image: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images
The post Is There an Ole Miss Quarterback Controversy Brewing? appeared first on Last Word on College Football.