We break down one of the biggest games on the Week 7 college football slate.
Ironically the reason most football fans love this silly little game is because they get to hate some other team. LSU vs. Ole Miss may not be the rivalry you think of in college football, but the juices definitely get flowing whenever the Tigers and Rebels get together.
This year’s game is no different as Ole Miss comes to Baton Rouge with a little more wind in their sails now that they got the bad taste of their Kentucky loss out of their mouth. LSU, of course, was on a much-needed bye week last weekend and will be playing underneath the lights of a sold out Tiger Stadium.
It’s nights like Saturday so great. Here’s how LSU can make it even greater with a win over the Rebels.
Trench Warfare
Did Kentucky expose something in Ole Miss two weeks ago in Oxford, and if so can the LSU offensive line recreate it?
The box score looks a little deceiving as Kentucky was credited with 93 rushing yards on 47 attempts for about two yards a carry; but that’s including five sacks and the 45 yards lost on those plays, take away sacks and Kentucky’s got a more respectable 138 yards.
LSU’s certainly running the ball better as of late thanks to the emergence of Caden Durham and Garrett Nussmeier has only been sacked twice through five games. That trend is going to have to continue as Ole Miss has one of the nastier defensive fronts in the SEC.
Tortoise or Hare?
To somewhat build off of the previous talking point, I’m curious to see how fast of a tempo LSU is going to use on offense. We know what Lane Kiffin’s game is, he’s going to want to go as quickly as possible. 104.5’s Hunt Palmer plucked out a great stat about Ole Miss’s offense: of Ole Miss’s 43 scoring drives this season, 31 of them took less than three minutes off the game clock. Does LSU try to play Ole Miss’s game or will Joe Sloan and Cortez Hankton try to control the clock? There’s a lot of anxiety about the LSU defense trying to stop Jaxson Dart and this Rebel offense, and the easiest way to protect an iffy defense is keeping the ball out of Ole Miss’s hands.
Timing is Everything
The phrase timing is everything is a truth in life and even more true when it comes to football. Sometimes it ain’t about who you play, but rather when or where you play them. Ole Miss has yet to have an off week, and it looks like the seven straight weeks of football is starting to wear on the Rebels.
Tre Harris is arguably the best player on Ole Miss’s team and is listed as questionable for Saturday’s game. He’s Ole Miss’s leading receiver with 52 grabs, and the next closest player has 18 receptions. Harris killed LSU in last year’s game at Oxford with 8 grabs for 153 yards and caught what proved to be the game-winning touchdown. LSU had absolutely no answer for Harris last season and frankly they probably don’t have a great answer this time around. Harris either missing the game or being hampered at best could potentially swing the game.
Ole Miss’s vaunted defensive front is also starting to get a little dinged up. Defensive end Princely Umanmielen and defensive tackle JJ Pegues are both listed as questionable. On the other side of the ball, Ole Miss has also ruled out starting left tackle Jayden Williams which could open the door for Bradyn Swinson to have a big night.
Home Sweet Home
Winning on the road is hard in the SEC. Ask Georgia how hard it is to do it. You can ask Alabama that now, too. Tiger Stadium is one of those places that can win a game on its own and remember Ole Miss hasn’t won inside these walls since 2008. That matters and come Saturday night it shouldn’t be a surprise if another opponents’ dreams end up dying inside Death Valley.