Sam Pittman reacts to Ole Miss leaving Austin Simmons off injury report, starting Trinidad Chambliss

Ole Miss turned some heads on Saturday when it opted not to list quarterback Austin Simmons on the final injury report before a game against Arkansas. Simmons had been nursing an ankle injury throughout the week.

It was clear during the contest that he was limited, as Trinidad Chambliss made the start instead and Simmons was relegated to spot duty work. But was there gamesmanship at play in terms of not listing Simmons?

If there was, it didn’t seem to bother Arkansas coach Sam Pittman. Pittman was nonplussed after the game.

“You know, I don’t know the expectations, to be honest with you,” he said of the injury report. “I probably expected him not to be listed. We had prepared for both guys. And to be honest with you, they do the same thing with both guys, so one’s right-handed, one’s left. But we had prepared for their offense, which they run with either guy.”

It didn’t end up mattering much that Chambliss made the start for Ole Miss. Just about everything seemed to work offensively.

Simmons did come in at one point and threw a touchdown pass, also taking one carry for eight yards. Still, he was limited for Ole Miss.

“Now obviously when Simmons came in he couldn’t run, but he certainly threw a touchdown on us,” Pittman said. “So nah, I didn’t pay much stock in the injury report, because I figured they’d play whoever they wanted to and we were prepared for it. We prepared for either one of them.”

As for Chambliss, he was simply superb for Ole Miss. He finished 21-of-29 for 353 yards and a touchdown, while also running for 62 yards and two scores. Arkansas had no answers.

“I mean he’s a good player. I knew he was fast and I knew he had a strong arm,” Pittman said. “I figured they would run the ball with him a little bit more than the other one, just because that’s what they had done in games prior, too. I thought he played a really good game.

“I mean we had interference, holding. We helped the situation as well with our seven penalties. I thought he played a really good game and did a good job running the football and throwing it, probably even a better job of throwing the football.”