No. 13 Missouri goes to No. 9 Ole Miss on Saturday, and the quarterback matchup is the reason to watch.
Austin Simmons starts for Missouri. He spent years at Ole Miss. Trinidad Chambliss starts for Ole Miss, and he is the Division II transfer who took Simmons’ job and never gave it back.
Missouri receiver Cayden Lee left Oxford in the same offseason. Both are now headed back for Ole Miss homecoming weekend.
The Numbers Are Almost Identical
Simmons has thrown for 1,434 yards with 14 touchdowns and one interception. Chambliss has thrown for 1,435 yards with 11 touchdowns and four interceptions.
One yard apart. Simmons has played one more game, which makes his efficiency edge real, and his 14-to-1 ratio is the best mark either man owns.
Missouri is 5-1 and 2-1 in the SEC. Ole Miss is 4-1 and 2-1.
How Simmons Lost the Job
In Week 3 of last season he hurt his ankle at Kentucky. Chambliss, a Division II transfer, made his first start the following game against Arkansas. Simmons came in, threw a four-yard touchdown, aggravated the ankle, and never started at Ole Miss again.
Chambliss kept it and then some. He threw for 3,937 yards, finished eighth in Heisman voting, and took Ole Miss to the College Football Playoff semifinals.
Simmons threw 19 more passes that season, entered the portal on January 2 with a do-not-contact tag, and signed with Missouri four days later.
In February a judge granted Chambliss a sixth year of eligibility. The NCAA appealed and lost when the Mississippi Supreme Court denied the appeal, keeping him eligible for 2026.
Everybody Is Being Polite About It
“It’s not a grudge match or anything like that,” said David Simmons, Austin’s father, this week. On Chambliss keeping the job, he added: “You can’t move him out when he’s hot, right?”
Austin Simmons, at Missouri’s media day: “It was tough leaving. I’d been there for so long.”
Ole Miss coach Pete Golding, who took over after Lane Kiffin left for LSU, was complimentary on Monday. “It’s scary to know how good he is and how talented he is,” Golding said of Simmons.
Chambliss said it will be weird to see his former teammates in different colors.
The Matchup Favors Missouri
Ole Miss has the worst rush defense in the SEC and ranks 111th nationally, allowing 176.4 yards per game. Missouri running back Jamal Roberts has back-to-back 200-yard rushing games, a first for a Missouri back.
That is the whole game plan, and it does not require Simmons to win a revenge narrative. Missouri has beaten Florida 45-17 and Texas A&M 27-6 in recent weeks by running the ball and letting Simmons stay efficient.
Lee adds a dimension Ole Miss knows well. He leads Missouri with 42 catches for 616 yards and five touchdowns.
What Is at Stake
Both teams sit at 2-1 in conference play with playoff paths intact and no margin left. The loser drops to 2-2 in the SEC in mid-October, which is survivable and ugly.
Simmons’ father framed the transfer as a business decision built on Chambliss’ eligibility, Kiffin’s departure and the chance to start. Saturday is where that decision gets graded, in the stadium he left.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.