Week three in the SEC features one of the biggest games in the conference this season. Not only is LSU and Ole Miss a battle between top 10 teams, but it marks Lane Kiffin’s return to Oxford after infamously leaving them before their playoff run last season.
The stakes are high in this game and the drama is even higher. Kiffin however took it upon himself to add even more drama by listing his quarterback, Sam Leavitt, as doubtful on their injury report on Wednesday. Many assumed this was a lie to try and get in the Rebels’ head and make them waste time preparing for another quarterback to potentially play, and they might be correct because Leavitt was upgraded to questionable on Thursday.
It’s impossible to prove if Kiffin was lying in their injury report, but even though Ole Miss claimed they didn’t believe him it’s hard to imagine they didn’t think about LSU’s backup quarterback playing even just a little. That is wasted time Ole Miss could’ve used in other ways, so this is something Kirby Smart could use in the future to toy with other teams that Georgia plays.
Georgia could get in their opponent’s head by copying Lane Kiffin
Lying on an injury report is against the rules. The SEC requires teams to release injury reports throughout the week leading up to a conference matchup, and lying about a player’s availability breaks their rules. It however is next to impossible to prove if someone is lying.
Knowing this Smart could follow suit and overstate certain injuries Georgia will eventually have. Maybe some of their starters are banged up one week, Smart could decide to initially list them as doubtful just like Kiffin did with Leavitt. This could make another team start preparing for that player to not play only for them to actually end up playing.
As mentioned, this would be against the rules but extremely difficult for the SEC to prove. Kirby Smart could easily do this, but it’s hard to imagine him doing it. Smart likes to do things the right way, and he’s already proven that he doesn’t need to game the system just to help him win.
Georgia doesn’t need to play mind games to win
Since Smart has been Georgia’s head coach they’ve won four SEC Championships and two national titles. All but one of those titles have occurred since 2021, and in the past five seasons no program has been more successful than Georgia.
Georgia won all of these championships the right way. They didn’t lie on injury reports or try to cut corners to gain an advantage, they just spotted the football and let their play do the talking.
No one knows if Kiffin is lying or not, but it’s easy to imagine how simple it would be to throw an opponent off by lying or stretching the truth on an injury report. Smart has always done things the right way though and winning while following the rules makes hoisting championship trophies that much better.
Georgia’s reputation is far too important to lie on an injury report, so even though Smart could probably get away with it hopefully everyone agrees that it isn’t worth it.
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