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<p>FedExCup Fall opened at the Biltmore Championship with matching 64s at The Cliffs at Walnut Cove.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>By Rhett Landry</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>The Tour is back in the mountains, and the FedExCup Fall opened with a green carpet at The Cliffs at Walnut Cove.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Max Greyserman and Eric Cole shared the clubhouse lead Thursday after opening 7-under 64s at the Biltmore Championship in Asheville, the first of eight Fall events on the PGA Tour calendar. Six players sat one shot back at 6-under 65 — Ben Kohles, Chris Kirk, Mackenzie Hughes, Jackson Suber, Peter Malnati, and Neal Shipley — per the Tour’s Round 1 leaderboard.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>The course let the birdie hunters eat. Seamus Power, coming off a missed cut at the Amgen Irish Open, bogeyed the par-5 third, then piled up birdies the rest of the way for a 5-under 66 and a share of ninth, according to RTé Sport. Cam Davis, Pierceson Coody, Jacob Bridgeman, Harry Higgs, Austin Smotherman, Gordon Sargent, and Pontus Nyholm also checked in at 66.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>A few bigger names kept pace without grabbing the lead. Billy Horschel, Lucas Glover, and Nick Taylor were among a pack at 4-under 67. Tony Finau had a day he’d like to forget — 7-over 78&nbsp; while Rasmus Højgaard withdrew after posting 78.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Three more rounds left in Asheville. Greyserman and Cole own the first tee marker; everybody else is chasing from Walnut Cove’s hills.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Related:</p><p>- Sam Leavitt is doubtful: <a href="https://capitolandcleats.com/blog/sam-leavitt-is-doubtful-oxford-just-got-louder">https://capitolandcleats.com/blog/sam-leavitt-is-doubtful-oxford-just-got-louder</a></p><p>- Oxford is not going to be polite: https://capitolandcleats.com/blog/oxford-is-not-going-to-be-polite-about-this</p>

The Tour’s back in the mountains. Greyserman and Cole own Round 1.

<p>LSU’s starting quarterback is on the first SEC availability report two days before the Magnolia Bowl — and purple still has to win in a stadium it hasn’t left with since 2019.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>By Rhett Landry</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>The security story and the parking-lot lawsuit papers can wait a beat. Wednesday night’s first SEC availability report is the thing that actually changes Saturday. No. 7 LSU listed quarterback Sam Leavitt as doubtful for the trip to No. 8 Ole Miss, Field Level Media and CBS Sports both had it. Matt Zenitz reported an upper-body issue and that Leavitt did not throw in Wednesday’s practice. On3 had it as a sore throwing shoulder and limited work all week. He looked fine after the Tech win. He did not look fine on the sheet.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Doubtful, under the league’s language, means roughly a 25 percent chance to play — unlikely, not dead. Updated reports land Thursday and Friday, with a final sheet ninety minutes before kickoff. Until then, every Oxford graphic has a new question mark under the visiting headset. Landen Clark, the Elon transfer, has been the No. 2 through two weeks: 7-of-10 for 109 yards and a touchdown in mop-up. That’s the depth chart on paper. Saturday night in the Vaught is not mop-up.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>The rest of the sheet still matters. Linebackers T.J. Dottery and Ty Singleton are questionable. Whit Weeks, Trey’Dez Green, Davhon Keys and Aliou Bah are probable. Three players are out. Ole Miss has its own nicks&nbsp; Makhi Frazier and Tommy Kinsler questionable — but the national eye just moved to purple’s quarterback room. Kick is still 6:30 p.m. CT Saturday on ABC. College GameDay is still in The Grove at 8 a.m. CT. Stripe Out. First top-10 LSUOle Miss meeting since 1962. First SEC game for both 2–0 clubs. All of that was already enough before Leavitt’s name hit doubtful.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Lane Kiffin did not put an injury on the Monday podium. He put prep and poise there. Now the prep has a different problem: can you win the Magnolia Bowl if the guy who has started both games is limited or sidelined? Purple hasn’t left Oxford with a win since the 2019 title run. Chambliss and Lacy are waiting either way. The Grove will be rude either way. The difference is whether No. 10 is under center when the ball is kicked.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Two days. Watch the Thursday sheet. Then the Friday sheet. Then the bus to Oxford.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Related:</p><p>- Oxford is not going to be polite: <a href="https://capitolandcleats.com/blog/oxford-is-not-going-to-be-polite-about-this">https://capitolandcleats.com/blog/oxford-is-not-going-to-be-polite-about-this</a></p><p>- Kiffin won’t throw a touchdown: https://capitolandcleats.com/blog/kiffin-wont-throw-a-touchdown-chambliss-might</p>

Sam Leavitt is doubtful. Oxford just got louder.

<p>No. 7 LSU walks into a tripled-trooper Magnolia Bowl&nbsp; Kiffin’s return, a parking-lot lawsuit serve, and Oxfords first top-10 LSU night.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>By Rhett Landry</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Oxford is not going to be polite about this.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>No. 7 LSU walks into Vaught-Hemingway on Saturday night as a 2-0 team that still has to prove it can win in that stadium. The Tigers have not left Oxford with a W since the 2019 national championship season. The series there sits knotted at 11-11-1. This one is also the first top-10 LSU–Ole Miss pairing in Oxford in the history of the place, and the first top-10 meeting in the whole rivalry since 1962. ABC gets the show. The SEC opener for both programs gets the weight.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Lane Kiffin knows the soundtrack. He spent six seasons building Ole Miss into a playoff outfit, then took the LSU job last Nov. 30 — a week before the Rebels got their first College Football Playoff bid under the program he left behind. Pete Golding finished that run with CFP wins and a semifinal trip. Kiffin said this week he expects “hatred” when he comes back. He is not wrong. Oxford already booed him out at the airport in December. Mustard bottles and golf balls have followed him into other returns. This one sits closer to home.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Mississippi is treating the night like a security problem, not a pep rally. Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter told reporters the National Guard is not on alert. That is the calm sentence. The operational sentence is uglier: Mississippi State Police presence for the game is being tripled from what LSU saw last week in Oxford against Charlotte — roughly 60 troopers instead of the usual 20 — with Louisiana State Police looping in and plainclothes officers spotted around the bowl. Escorting Kiffin to and from the field is a two-state job. Rivalry football always sells tickets. This version is selling overtime for state police.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>The paper trail got louder Tuesday. LSU defensive end Princewill Umanmielen&nbsp; one of the transfers who followed the coaching tree across the state line, along with linebacker T.J. Dottery and others — was served discovery papers in the parking lot outside the Tigers’ football facility, according to ESPN and court records out of Lafayette County. Ole Miss sued Umanmielen and LSU offensive lineman Devin Harper in July, seeking about $550,000 from Umanmielen and $400,000 from Harper in a breach-of-contract fight over revenue-sharing deals the Rebels say the players signed in early January before hitting the portal and landing in Baton Rouge. Interrogatories, document requests, admissions&nbsp; the dry legal stack — dropped five days before kickoff. LSU said it knew Ole Miss had been trying to serve him. Timing still does what timing always does in this rivalry: it pours gasoline.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Ole Miss players are trying to keep the public quotes about Kiffin small. The game is the SEC opener. The rankings are real. The film is mutual. That is the adult version. The adult version still has to survive a Saturday night in Oxford when the visiting coach used to own the headset on the home sideline, half the building wants his head, and one of LSU’s defensive ends just got handed a stack of court paper outside the practice barn.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Purple and gold do not apologize for walking into hostile country. They pack for it. Magnolia Bowl week just stopped being a preview and started being a scene. See you in Oxford.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Related:</p><p>- Kiffin won’t throw a touchdown: <a href="https://capitolandcleats.com/blog/kiffin-wont-throw-a-touchdown-chambliss-might">https://capitolandcleats.com/blog/kiffin-wont-throw-a-touchdown-chambliss-might</a></p><p>- Baton Rouge woke up 2–0: https://capitolandcleats.com/blog/baton-rouge-woke-up-2-0-oxford-already-has-the-lights-on</p>

Oxford is not going to be polite about this.

<p>The justices left the mail-ballot rules already in motion. Trump went after the Court on Tuesday.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>By Camille Reid</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>The Supreme Court did not crown mail ballots on Monday. It refused to let Washington rewrite the rulebook while envelopes were already leaving the post office.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>In Postal Service v. California, the justices denied the Justice Department’s emergency bid to lift a Boston injunction and let the Postal Service enforce new mail-ballot restrictions through the Nov. 3 midterms. The unsigned order was short and cold: the government was unlikely to win on the merits, and the equities did not favor a last-minute stay. U.S. District Judge Indira Talwanis block stays in place.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>That is not a romance about absentee democracy. It is a competence ruling. North Carolina and Alabama had already started mailing ballots. More states were days away from the same. Nearly three in ten voters nationwide cast by mail. Changing the pipeline after the first drop is how you manufacture chaos and then blame the other side for noticing.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s concurrence is the tell. He left open the idea that the Postal Service may have statutory room to regulate election mail under 39 U.S.C. §401(2). What he would not bless was applying the new rule to 2026. State and local clerks, he wrote, do not have enough time to implement it reasonably before Election Day. Call that “arbitrary and capricious” under the Administrative Procedure Act, which is lawyer for: you waited too long and the calendar is not optional.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented. They would have granted the stay. Their view of Postal Service authority and standing will matter again — maybe for 2028, maybe sooner if another emergency lands on the shadow docket. Mondays order does not settle that fight. It settles November.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>President Trump answered Tuesday the way he answers every adverse order: by going after the Court, including justices he put there. He praised Alito and Thomas as “legends” and treated the rest as a betrayal. Attorney General Todd Blanche said the administration would comply and then promised the push for “free and fair elections” would not stop at November. Fine. Argue the statute. Build the rule with time for clerks to run it. Do not ask the Court to green-light a mid-cycle rewrite because the politics got loud.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Republicans are defending a slim House majority. Democrats want the mail pipeline wide open. Both sides will spin Monday as destiny. It is not. It is a Court saying the midterms will run under the rules already in motion, not under a Postal Service rewrite that arrived after the first ballots hit the truck.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>If you want different mail rules, win them with lead time. Competence is not optional just because the calendar is short.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Related:</p><p>- Mail ballots and the court: <a href="https://capitolandcleats.com/blog/mail-ballots-and-the-court">https://capitolandcleats.com/blog/mail-ballots-and-the-court</a></p><p>- Dallas cheered: https://capitolandcleats.com/blog/dallas-cheered-swing-seats-still-need-a-reason</p>

The Court Didn’t Rewrite November. It Refused to.

<p>Monday’s podium made Oxford about prep and poise — and the Heisman backfield waiting in the Vaught.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>By Rhett Landry</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Lane Kiffin spent Monday trying to shrink the story that will not shrink. WAFB and WWL both had the tape: No. 7 LSU at No. 8 Ole Miss Saturday, 6:30 p.m. CT on ABC, GameDay in The Grove, and the coach who used to own that sideline saying the cameras can chase him all week if they want. “Pete’s not going to tackle anyone. I’m not going to throw any touchdowns,” Kiffin said. “This is about the players being prepared really well and playing really well. Jeff Palermo’s WWL write-up this morning framed both coaches the same way — lower the temperature, no bulletin-board meat, first SEC game for two 20 teams that have to practice clean and play free when the Grove gets loud.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Then Kiffin flipped the pressure. Ole Miss won 13 last year. LSU won seven. The Rebels bring back two Heisman names in the same backfield — Trinidad Chambliss and Kewan Lacy — and Kiffin asked out loud how often that happens. “Really, the pressure is on them,” he said. “You get to just go play.” That is either the calmest road-week message in SEC history or the loudest soft sell Oxford will hear before Saturday. Either way, purple’s defense has to live with Chambliss for sixty minutes. Kiffin called him mature, low-mistake, big-play in big games. The Reveille’s midweek frame is the same: LSU hasn’t seen a backfield like this through Clemson and Tech, and Blake Baker’s unit has to force short answers for a long time.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Monday morning was also turnover film. Tech made the first half ugly — three Leavitt interceptions, a 100-yard pick-six, red-zone mess — before LSU blew it open 45–14. Kiffin told WAFB the giveaways were an offense-wide problem, not just a quarterback problem. Oxford will not gift you a soft second half if you put three balls in the wrong jersey again. Establish the run. Clean up the red zone. Survive Chambliss. Ignore the noise that will follow the visiting headset from the bus to the tunnel.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Saturday is still the Magnolia Bowl with national TV and a Stripe Out. Monday was the week telling purple what actually decides it: practice, prep, poise — and whether Chambliss is the one throwing touchdowns while Kiffin watches from the wrong sideline.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Related:</p><p>- Baton Rouge woke up 2–0: <a href="https://capitolandcleats.com/blog/baton-rouge-woke-up-2-0-oxford-already-has-the-lights-on">https://capitolandcleats.com/blog/baton-rouge-woke-up-2-0-oxford-already-has-the-lights-on</a></p><p>- 2–0 tastes fine: https://capitolandcleats.com/blog/2-0-tastes-fine-oxford-wont-care-about-the-first-half</p>

Kiffin won’t throw a touchdown. Chambliss might.

<p>No. 7 LSU just put Louisiana Tech in the rearview, and Saturday is the real one — Kiffin walking back into the Grove with College GameDay in the trees and ABC on the clock.</p><p><br></p><p>By Rhett Landry</p><p><br></p><p>WBRZ has it straight this morning: Lane Kiffin’s Tigers are No. 7 after a 2–0 run through Tiger Stadium, and the first road trip of the year is straight into No. 8 Ole Miss at Vaught-Hemingway. Kick is 6:30 p.m. CT Saturday on ABC — Ole Miss Athletics and LSUsports both have the window locked. Stripe Out in Oxford. College GameDay setting up in The Grove. First SEC game. First away game. The whole circus is pointed at one man walking into the stadium he left.</p><p><br></p><p>Kiffin is due at the podium after Monday practice around 11:15 a.m., per WBRZ, to talk about the 45–14 Tech win and the week that actually matters. You already know the box from Saturday. Tech made the first half ugly. LSU made the second half a statement. Oxford won’t grade on a curve. The Rebels are 2–0 too. This isnt a soft landing into conference play. It’s the Magnolia Bowl with national TV and a coach who used to call that sideline home.</p><p><br></p><p>While purple sorts film and travel, the league around them didn’t sit still. AL.com’s Week 3 SEC power board — published this morning — has Georgia first, Texas second, LSU third, Ole Miss fourth after a weekend that still feels loud. Texas took down Ohio State 24–23 in Austin. Georgia hung 70 on Western Kentucky. Alabama went into Lexington and beat Kentucky 45–17. Ole Miss handled Charlotte 41–9 in Oxford. Tennessee beat Georgia Tech 45–24 on the road. That’s the neighborhood LSU just entered with a 2–0 record and a target already painted on the bus.</p><p><br></p><p>And the other LSU noise finally cooled a notch. New Orleans CityBusiness reported today that SEC presidents and chancellors met Thursday, took no vote on membership, and announced no sanctions after the expulsion threat that had hung over the program. The league said talks continue toward “an appropriate resolution.” The federal lawsuit is still pending. Kiffin had already left DaeQuan Wright and Zxavian Harris off the opening-week roster — the practical fight that lit the fuse. Baton Rouge can breathe for a week. Oxford still gets the ball Saturday.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Saturdays SEC board is a meat grinder even before purple kicks: Georgia at Arkansas on ABC in the morning window, Florida at Auburn at night, Kentucky at Texas A&amp;M in the afternoon. LSU’s game is the one the cameras will live on. Kiffin Bowl. Magnolia Bowl. Call it whatever you want. The Grove is going to be loud, GameDay is going to be smug, and 2–0 only buys you a seat on the plane.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Purple’s undefeated. The calendar just got mean. Five days until Oxford finds out if the hangover talk was real or if Kiffin’s Tigers are ready for the night that actually counts.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Related:</p><p>- 2–0 tastes fine: <a href="https://capitolandcleats.com/blog/2-0-tastes-fine-oxford-wont-care-about-the-first-half">https://capitolandcleats.com/blog/2-0-tastes-fine-oxford-wont-care-about-the-first-half</a></p><p>- Week 1 didnt whisper: https://capitolandcleats.com/blog/week-1-didnt-whisper-it-yelled</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p>

Baton Rouge woke up 2–0. Oxford already has the lights on.

<p>Caleb Williams and Josh Allen lit the board, Ja’Marr Chase went quiet, and the first waiver scramble already has names attached.</p><p><br></p><p>By Rhett Landry</p><p><br></p><p>Fantasy’s opening Sunday did not ease anybody in. Chicago dropped a record 59 on Carolina in the highest-scoring Week 1 game in NFL history, per Field Level Media, and Caleb Williams — two passing scores, two on the ground, 269 through the air and 65 on his feet — led all early-window quarterbacks with 37.26 fantasy points, ESPN’s Matt Bowen had it. D’Andre Swift punched in three rushing touchdowns and 124 yards. Kyle Monangai added a 100-yard day with a long score of his own. The Bears’ run game looked like a problem for Week 2, not a one-week fluke.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Buffalo answered in Houston. Josh Allen put up 35.66 fantasy points — four touchdowns, two through the air and two with his legs&nbsp; and beat the Texans 36–31 for the first time in twenty years, Field Level Media reported. DJ Moore, the new No. 1 in blue, finished with 21.0 fantasy points on five catches for 100 and a score. Dalton Kincaid went for 130 yards. Tristan Cockcroft noted Allen’s output was 15.06 more than any quarterback scored in a game against Houston last season. That Bills offense is humming heading into Detroit.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Baltimore’s Derrick Henry led early-window backs with 35.3 fantasy points on 144 yards and three scores, Bowen wrote, while Lamar Jackson piled up 324 passing yards and a rushing touchdown in a 4123 win at Indy. Zay Flowers caught five for a career-high 150 and a score before a hamstring ended his night early — an injury ESPN flagged for Week 2 monitoring, with Mark Andrews the likely volume sponge if Flowers sits.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Las Vegas got what it drafted Ashton Jeanty to be. Jeanty scored 32.7 fantasy points — two receiving touchdowns from Kirk Cousins, 102 on the ground, six catches — with 29 of Las Vegas’s 58 touches and 73% of the offensive snaps in a 27–13 win over Miami, per ESPN’s Cockcroft. Brock Bowers was already on the shelf after a meniscus trim; Michael Mayer filled the TE gap before the opener, and Jeanty’s dual-threat day made the wait for Bowers feel longer.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Then there were the gut punches. Ja’Marr Chase finished with two catches for 12 yards and 3.2 fantasy points against Tampa Bay — the second-worst score of his career, Cockcroft noted — even as Cincinnati won 3327. Drake London sat through Cooper Rush’s ugly debut in Atlanta after Tua Tagovailoas oblique sidelined him in practice; London managed 5.5 fantasy points on four targets in a 20–13 loss to Pittsburgh. Cockcroft’s counsel on Chase is patience — September has never been his month. Londons Week 2 value rides on whether Tagovailoa is back against Carolina.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Injuries already reshaped the wire. Kyler Murray’s Vikings debut ended in the first quarter on a concussion; Carson Wentz threw three touchdown passes and Minnesota closed with 29 unanswered to stun Green Bay 39–22, Field Level Media had it. Justin Jefferson caught eight for 92 and two scores. If Murray doesn’t clear protocol, Wentz draws Chicago in Week 2 — a streamer only if the starter stays down, Bowen wrote. Ladd McConkey left the Chargers’ loss to Arizona with a chest injury after 19.2 fantasy points; Bowen pointed to Quentin Johnston and deeper-league Tre’ Harris if McConkey misses the Raiders.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>On the add list that already has receipts: Panthers receiver Jalen Coker caught eight for 138 and two touchdowns for 33.8 fantasy points in that Charlotte shootout and sits as a must-add ahead of Atlanta, rostered in just over half of ESPN leagues per Bowen. Giants tight end Isaiah Likely&nbsp; eight catches, two scores, 27.8 fantasy points in a 28–20 win over Dallas — led the position for the week and was still available in nearly 20 percent of ESPN leagues, Cockcroft wrote. Devaughn Veles 19.9-point Saints outing (seven catches, a score) showed up on Sports Illustrated’s early Week 2 wire board as a flex with Jordyn Tyson still out.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Monday night still has Broncos at Chiefs on ESPN. The rest of Week 1 is in the books. The waiver claims that matter already have names on them — Coker, Likely, maybe Wentz if Murray stays foggy — and the stars who went quiet Sunday still get the benefit of one bad week before anybody starts rewriting September.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Related:</p><p>- 2–0 tastes fine: <a href="https://capitolandcleats.com/blog/2-0-tastes-fine-oxford-wont-care-about-the-first-half">https://capitolandcleats.com/blog/2-0-tastes-fine-oxford-wont-care-about-the-first-half</a></p><p>- It’s Saturday. Purple night: https://capitolandcleats.com/blog/its-saturday-purple-night-the-hangover-talk-ends-at-kickoff</p>

Week 1 didn’t whisper. It yelled.

<p>Saudi Arabia shut its East-West pipeline after weekend attacks. Gulf talks with Iran on Hormuz were postponed. Monday crude jumped more than 3%, and U.S. diesel printed a new high above $6.23 a gallon.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>By Victor Lin</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>The market did not need a speech. It needed a pipe.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Saudi Arabia’s East-West line — the main land bridge that moved Gulf crude to Red Sea ports without threading the Strait of Hormuz — is temporarily closed after drone attacks Riyadh tied to Iran-backed fighters in Iraq, Reuters reported. Space images show sections damaged by fire. Riyadh has not put a firm reopen date on the board. Traders told Reuters the shutdown could cut off as much as 4% of global oil supply if it stays dark for days.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>That is the bypass. The choke is still Hormuz. A merchant vessel was hit in the strait on Sunday, killing one crew member and injuring three, Iranian authorities said, per Euronews. Oman postponed Monday’s planned meeting of Iran and Gulf states on managing the waterway “in the interests of consensus,” Oman’s foreign minister said. Iran said Saudi Arabia asked for the delay. Tehran also published a list of 77 ships it said violated its Hormuz protocols, with fines, detention, or confiscation on the menu for repeat trips, Reuters reported.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Monday’s tape priced the weekend. Euronews had Brent for October and November crossing $108 a barrel, up more than 3%, with WTI around $103, also up more than 3%, after both benchmarks reclaimed $100 last week. Reuters matched the more-than-3% jump when markets reopened. The National had Brent near $107.95 and WTI near $103.19 in early Monday trade. U.S. retail diesel hit a new all-time average above $6.23 a gallon, Reuters said — the political price that travels faster than a barrel print.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Euronews, citing Lipow Oil Associates, put the arithmetic this way: about 1.2 million barrels a day of diesel disruption around Hormuz versus roughly 800,000 from Russia’s export ban after Ukraine hit Russian refineries. Crude flows through the strait have fallen from around 20 million barrels a day before the war to about 7 million in that same reporting. Yemens Houthis said Monday they fired on a Saudi airbase near the border; they also seized Perim Island at the Bab el-Mandeb last week, Reuters reported — a second choke on the Red Sea side of the map.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>President Donald Trump, speaking over the weekend, said he expects the Iran war to end shortly after the November midterms, after which oil would drop like a rock,” per Reuters. He also told reporters Ukraine should stop hitting Russian diesel targets. The Monday screen is still pricing pipes and ships, not the calendar.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>My take: $108 Brent with the East-West dark is a two-route premium. Hormuz was already the rationing valve. Closing the land bypass turns a shipping risk into a volume risk. If the pipeline reopens in days and Oman gets ministers back in a room, the three-handle on Brent can fade. If Yemen stays hot and the 77-ship list starts filling berths, the diesel number at American pumps is the midterm price. Watch the reopen notice and the next weekly stocks.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Related:</p><p>- Brent cleared $100: <a href="https://capitolandcleats.com/blog/brent-cleared-100-wti-settled-96">https://capitolandcleats.com/blog/brent-cleared-100-wti-settled-96</a></p><p>- Diesel set the record: https://capitolandcleats.com/blog/diesel-set-the-record-gasoline-second-punch</p>

The bypass just closed. Brent cleared $108.

<p>No. 8 LSU beat Louisiana Tech 4514, then the NFL Week 1 board opens — and next Saturday is already the Kiffin Bowl.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>By Rhett Landry</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Death Valley sold out again — 102,321, per LA Techs box — and No. 8 LSU walked out 2–0 with a 4514 win that looked like a hangover for a half and a statement after it. Sam Leavitt threw three interceptions. Tech’s Jordan McRae took one 100 yards the other way for a program-record pick-six that made it 107 at the break. The Associated Press had it clean: Leavitt answered with three rushing touchdowns, Trey’Dez Green finished with six catches for 104 and a score, and the Tigers piled up 528 yards while holding Tech to 140 and minus-3 on the ground. Princewill Umanmielen, the edge who followed Kiffin from Oxford, had three sacks. Seven sacks as a defense. Four LSU turnovers. Ten LSU penalties. A win is a win. Film won’t lie about the red zone.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Lane Kiffin wanted Clemson energy for an in-state Saturday. He got it in the second half. He also got a reminder that Week 2 against a mid-major can still turn your stomach before it turns your scoreboard. Tech forced four first-half turnovers and left with a moral and a 67-yard Mickens bomb in the fourth. LSU left with 2–0 and a short week into No. 9 Ole Miss&nbsp; the program Kiffin walked away from, the one that already talked after beating Louisville. Call it the Kiffin Bowl if you want. The AP already framed next Saturday that way. Oxford won’t care that Tech only put up 14. Oxford will care that Leavitt put three balls in the other jersey.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>While Baton Rouge was sorting its second half, Austin stole the national night. No. 4 Texas erased a 20-point fourth-quarter hole and beat No. 1 Ohio State 24–23 on Hollywood Smothers’ one-yard run with 25 seconds left, per ESPN and Texas Athletics. AP No. 1s don’t usually survive that kind of math. The SEC just put a dent in the top of the poll without LSU touching the ball.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Now the NFL Week 1 board is live, Mountain clock. Early window: Bills at Texans, Jets at Titans, Bears at Panthers — CBS and FOX splitting the noon-ish starts. Later: Packers at Vikings on CBS. Sunday night is Cowboys at Giants on NBC. Monday night is Broncos at Chiefs. For this desk, Houston and Dallas always matter, and so do the former Tigers scattered across those rosters. Watch the Texans open at home. Watch the Cowboys under the lights. Then circle Saturday — LSU at Ole Miss — because 2–0 only buys you the right to walk into Oxford with a target on the chest.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Purple got the win it needed. Film got the problems it needed. The Magnolia Bowl doesn’t grade on a curve.</p><p><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>Related:</p><p>- It’s Saturday. Purple night: <a href="https://capitolandcleats.com/blog/its-saturday-purple-night-the-hangover-talk-ends-at-kickoff">https://capitolandcleats.com/blog/its-saturday-purple-night-the-hangover-talk-ends-at-kickoff</a></p><p>- Death Valley sold out again: https://capitolandcleats.com/blog/death-valley-sold-out-again-tech-gets-the-hangover-test</p>

2–0 tastes fine. Oxford won’t care about the first half.

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<section class="cc-lines" id="this-weeks-lines">
  <h2>This Week’s Lines</h2>
  <p class="sub">Mon Sep 14, 2026  DraftKings via ESPN · Lines move · 21+</p>
  <h3>College Football — Week 3</h3>
  <div class="row"><div><div class="g"><a href="https://www.espn.com/college-football/game/_/gameId/401856688" target="_blank" rel="noopener">No. 7 LSU at No. 8 Ole Miss</a></div><div class="m">Sat Sep 19, 5:30 p.m. MT · ABC</div></div><div class="l">LSU -3 / O/U 58.5</div></div>
<div class="row"><div><div class="g"><a href="https://www.espn.com/college-football/game/_/gameId/401856811" target="_blank" rel="noopener">No. 22 Houston at No. 13 Texas Tech</a></div><div class="m">Fri Sep 18, 6:00 p.m. MT · FOX</div></div><div class="l">TTU -7.5 / O/U —</div></div>
<div class="row"><div><div class="g"><a href="https://www.espn.com/college-football/game/_/gameId/401858230" target="_blank" rel="noopener">No. 16 SMU at No. 23 Louisville</a></div><div class="m">Sat Sep 19, 1:30 p.m. MT · ESPN2</div></div><div class="l">LOU -1.5 / O/U 59.5</div></div>
<div class="row"><div><div class="g"><a href="https://www.espn.com/college-football/game/_/gameId/401856687" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Florida at Auburn</a></div><div class="m">Sat Sep 19, 5:00 p.m. MT · ESPN</div></div><div class="l">FLA -2.5 / O/U 52.5</div></div>
<div class="row"><div><div class="g"><a href="https://www.espn.com/college-football/game/_/gameId/401858229" target="_blank" rel="noopener">North Carolina at Clemson</a></div><div class="m">Sat Sep 19, 10:00 a.m. MT · ESPN</div></div><div class="l">CLEM -3.5 / O/U 44.5</div></div>
<div class="row"><div><div class="g"><a href="https://www.espn.com/college-football/game/_/gameId/401856686" target="_blank" rel="noopener">No. 2 Georgia at Arkansas</a></div><div class="m">Sat Sep 19, 10:00 a.m. MT · ABC</div></div><div class="l">UGA -24.5 / O/U 54.5</div></div>
  <h3>NFL — Week 2</h3>
  <div class="row"><div><div class="g"><a href="https://www.espn.com/nfl/game/_/gameId/401872934" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cincinnati at Houston</a></div><div class="m">Sun Sep 20, 11:00 a.m. MT · CBS</div></div><div class="l">HOU -3 / O/U 46.5</div></div>
<div class="row"><div><div class="g"><a href="https://www.espn.com/nfl/game/_/gameId/401872944" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Washington at Dallas</a></div><div class="m">Sun Sep 20, 2:25 p.m. MT · FOX</div></div><div class="l">DAL -3.5 / O/U 50.5</div></div>
<div class="row"><div><div class="g"><a href="https://www.espn.com/nfl/game/_/gameId/401872933" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Carolina at Atlanta</a></div><div class="m">Sun Sep 20, 11:00 a.m. MT  FOX</div></div><div class="l">CAR -1.5 / O/U 43.5</div></div>
<div class="row"><div><div class="g"><a href="https://www.espn.com/nfl/game/_/gameId/401872940" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jacksonville at Denver</a></div><div class="m">Sun Sep 20, 2:05 p.m. MT · CBS</div></div><div class="l">DEN -2.5 / O/U 44.5</div></div>
<div class="row"><div><div class="g"><a href="https://www.espn.com/nfl/game/_/gameId/401872932" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Detroit at Buffalo</a></div><div class="m">Thu Sep 17, 6:15 p.m. MT · Prime</div></div><div class="l">BUF -4.5 / O/U 53.5</div></div>
<div class="row"><div><div class="g"><a href="https://www.espn.com/nfl/game/_/gameId/401872936" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Green Bay at N.Y. Jets</a></div><div class="m">Sun Sep 20, 11:00 a.m. MT · FOX</div></div><div class="l">GB -4.5 / O/U 44.5</div></div>
  <p class="note">LSU / Texans / Cowboys always on the board. Closest NFL: CAR, DEN, BUF, GB. Houston–Tech O/U not out yet. Source: DraftKings via ESPN. Never invent.</p>
</section>

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The Tour’s back in the mountains. Greyserman and Cole own...

Sam Leavitt is doubtful. Oxford just got louder.

Oxford is not going to be polite about this.

The Court Didn’t Rewrite November. It Refused to.

Kiffin won’t throw a touchdown. Chambliss might.

Baton Rouge woke up 2–0. Oxford already has the lights on.

Week 1 didn’t whisper. It yelled.

The bypass just closed. Brent cleared $108.

2–0 tastes fine. Oxford won’t care about the first half.

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