Rebels run by LSU, 24-19

By Hunt Palmer

THE STORY

The cracks in the foundation finally brought the house down Saturday evening in Oxford.

The LSU offense’s complete inability to move the ball forced the defense to play far too long against a good Rebel offense. Though the defense fought valiantly, Ole Miss wore them down and earned a, 24-19, win in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

LSU’s offense only has one dimension of one dimension. The lone effective aspect of the unit is the short passing game. There is no running game to speak of and no ability to push the ball down the field in the air.

That makes life easy on an opposing defense.

The Rebel unit that was torched for 526 yards by Arkansas and 172 yards by a weak Kentucky team bottled LSU up for much of four quarters. The first Tiger touchdown came on a fluky tipped ball in the endzone, and one field goal was set up by an interception return into Ole Miss territory.

By the time the Tigers mounted a touchdown drive of their own, it was too little too late.

Brian Kelly called for complementary football this week, and he didn’t get it.

Ole Miss absolutely owned the stat sheet, and were it not for a fumble inside the five yard line in the first half, the scoreboard might have been more lopsided.

Ole Miss senior quarterback Trinidad Chambliss played admirably. He used his legs when necessary and was fantastic on third downs. PJ Woodland did make a great play to intercept one Chambliss throw, but the ball was rarely in harm’s way in the Division 2 transfer’s first appearance on a huge stage.

Twenty-four points is 20 under Ole Miss’s season average. But without some more help from the LSU offense, the defensive effort wasn’t enough.

Ole Miss now enters October 5-0 with a manageable path to the College Football Playoff. LSU enters a bye week with serious questions about the ceiling of the season without a drastic turnaround by the offense.

THE STATS

Ole Miss outgained LSU 480-258, 222 yards.

Ole Miss ran for 166 and threw for 314.

Ole Miss ran 84 plays to LSU’s 56. In the first half, Ole Miss ran 49 plays to LSU’s 24.

Ju’Juan Johnson, Kaleb Jackson and Harlem Berry combined for two carries in the first half. One came on third and 20, and the other was a one yard loss.

LSU ran the ball 22 times for 57 yards with a long of 10, the Jackson run on third and 20.

AJ Haulcy made 13 tackles.

Ole Miss was 8-for-17 (47%) on third down. LSU was 2-for-11 (18%).

Garrett Nussmeier was 21-for-34 for 197 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT.

THE PLAYS

Zavion Thomas beat the Ole Miss defense deep for 54 yards into the redzone for the game’s first explosive play.

LSU used a little luck for a touchdown. Garrett Nussmeier fired for the endzone, and Sage Ryan tipped the ball, but Nic Anderson dove and caught it on the ricochet. 7-0 Tigers.

Ole Miss responded to the Tiger touchdown with a methodical drive down the field using Chambliss’s arm and legs. Their 18-play drive resulted in a 25-yard field goal from Lucas Carnero. 7-3 Tigers. That drive was the longest of the Lane Kiffin era at Ole Miss.

Nussmeier made a mental mistake on LSU’s next drive. He fired late off his back foot down the middle of the field and was intercepted by Wydett Williams at the Ole Miss 12 less than a minute into the second quarter.

A facemask on Walter Mathis Jr. turned a 3^rd and 13 into first and 10. A holding on Ole Miss two plays later got the Rebels behind the chains, and a 3^rd and 21 run play set up another punt.

On third and 11, Ole Miss converted to Deuce Alexander down to the LSU 31. On the next play, Chambliss found Cayden Lee down inside the five, but AJ Haulcy jarred the ball free. Whit Weeks fell on it in the endzone for a huge turnover with 8:00 left in the first half.

When the Rebels got the ball back, LSU forced an incompletion on first and 20, but West Weeks foolishly roughed the passer to move the ball to the Ole Miss 35 and give the Rebels a first down. Then LSU jumped offsides on third and 10 to make it third and five which Ole Miss converted into LSU territory.

DJ Pickett was flagged for pass interference on an interception he returned for a touchdown. PJ Woodland earned a pass interference on the next snap.

Ole Miss took the lead on the next play. Kewan Lacy carried it in from the 15. On the 70-yard drive, 49 yards came via the penalty. 10-7 Ole Miss.

Ole Miss added to its lead late in first half. The Rebels converted a fourth and one from the LSU 13 with 30 seconds to play and scored a touchdown two plays later when Chambliss hit Lee on a roll out pass in the endzone. 17-7, Ole Miss.

Midway through the third quarter, LSU drove down into Ole Miss territory in part due to a pass interference on a deep ball to Chris Hilton. The ball was badly underthrown to a wide open Hilton. The Tigers settled for a 39-yard field goal from Damian Ramos. 17-10, Ole Miss with 6:02 left in the third.

LSU’s defense came up with another turnover. Woodland made an exceptional play to tip a Chambliss pass up and pull it in tightroping the sideline. He ran it back to the Ole Miss 47 with just over three minutes to play in the third.

The Tiger offense could only move it to the 31. As Ramos set up for a 48-yard field goal, LSU had to burn a timeout for substitution issues. He still knocked it through. 17-13, Ole Miss just under a minute to play in the third.

Ole Miss converted third and 14 with an 18-yard completion down to the LSU 35 with just under 14 minutes to play. Chambliss made a great throw.

Ole Miss paid it off with a Logan Diggs four-yard touchdown to put the Rebels up 24-13.

With inside 8:30 left, LSU went for fourth and three from the Ole Miss 37. Kyle Parker’s remarkable second effort got the first down.

LSU went for another fourth down an inches from the 25. They had to burn a second timeout due to confusion. Then Josh Thompson jumped offsides. On fourth and five from the 30, Nussmeier found Parker for a first down.

Harlem Berry scored his first collegiate touchdown with 5:04 to play. That made it 24-19. LSU went for two to try to cut the Rebel lead to three. A handoff to Ju’Juan Johnson lost four yards.

Chambliss made a very poor decision to try to get a first down on third down with 1:47 left. He went out of bounds, and LSU did not have any timeouts. That stopped the clock and set up fourth and three.

It didn’t matter, Chambliss hit the tight end for 20 to ice it.