By Hunt Palmer
THE STORY: That. Was. A. Classic.
One of the oldest rivalries in the country on a Saturday Night in Death Valley. Classic uniforms. Big plays. Playoff stakes. It was everything that epitomizes the best of college football.
We needed extra time to decide it, and in the end the home team celebrated a win fitting of the 100 year celebration of Tiger Stadium.
LSU’s defense gritted and gutted play after play and held a potent Ole Miss offense to 20 points in regulation. They gave up 464 yards, but they never stopped coming. The hit Jaxson Dart time and time again and made the Rebels earn everything they got.
They just had to wait for LSU’s offense, the perceived strength of the team, to show up. It finally did.
Nussmeier engineered a 13-play, 75-yard drive to tie it in regulation and found Lacy to win the game.
Brian Kelly has been asking for complementary football for a year since the Tiger defense completely let a legendary season by Jayden Daniels waste away.
He got it in spades on Saturday night.
THE STATS: LSU sacked Dart six times and had nine tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
Ole Miss, which entered the game as the country’s leader in sacks, did not get Nussmeier to the ground on 51 pass attempts
Whit Weeks made 18 tackles, 10 solo with a sack and two tackles for loss.
Bradyn Swinson added two sacks bringing his season total to seven
Nussmeier threw 27 passes of 15 or more yards.
THE PLAYS: Tre Harris dropped a potential touchdown 13:30 on Ole Miss’s second snap. Forced 3rd and 13 and a draw that meant a punt.
After a holding penalty set up third and 16 for Ole Miss deep in LSU territory, the Rebels were forced to try a 32-yard field goal that Caden Davis pushed wide right with 6:54 to play in the first quarter.
With 6:15 to play in the first quarter, Nussmeier felt pressure and threw over the middle. Suntarine Perkins tipped it up in the air, and Jamarious Brown picked it off. He returned it to the LSU 13 yard line.
Lane Kiffin wasn’t kicking a second time in a row. The Rebels had fourth and one from the LSU four and tried a direct snap to Henry Parrish Jr. He was stoned in the backfield by Bradyn Swinson for a turnover on downs with 4:45 to play in the first.
LSU tried its hand at fourth down. Facing a fourth and two at the Ole Miss 38, LSU took a timeout and elected to go. The result was a loss of three on a read option to Kaleb Jackson that Perkins blew up.
The Rebels took over and scored the game’s first touchdown…on another fourth down. On fourth and one Ulysses Bentley IV went 50 yards for a score.
LSU had to respond, and they did. Nussmeier found Zavion Thomas on a crucial third and 13 to extend the drive, and then he paid it off with a touchdown strike to Trey’dez Green to make it 10-7.
On a third and six from the LSU 15, Dart found Harris in the back of the endzone. Major Burns was in position, but the nation’s receiving yardage leader made an excellent play on the ball for the score to give the Rebels a 10-point lead.
Ole Miss tried to get a late score at the end of the half. Instead, a fumble by Henry Parrish Jr. set LSU up at the 28 yard line. Damion Ramos paid that off with a 45-yard field goal to cut the Rebel lead to 17-13 at half.
Ramos had a chance to cut the lead to one with 7:17 to play in the third, but his 46-yarder sailed wide right.
The first play of the fourth quarter was a gut punch for LSU. On third and 15 from their own 20 yard line, Ole Miss converted with an 18-yard pass to Cayden Lee. LSU could have taken over in good field position, down 20-16 with a stop.
Zy Alexander’s return to the lineup paid off with a huge interception in the endzone with 11:02 to play. Dart was looking for Lee, and LSU took over down four points.
On the next play Nussmeier gave it right back. The junior quarterback made a dreadful decision and hung the ball up near the LSU sideline. Two Ole Miss defenders were in the area, and Trey Amos picked it off at the Ole Miss 39.
An apparent Nussmeier fumble with 6:26 left in the game looked like it would give Ole Miss a chance to put the game on ice, but review determined it was an incomplete pass.
Trailing by a touchdown with 2:22 left, LSU picked up a fourth and seven when Nussmeier hit Taylor on a gorgeous throw and catch in tight coverage.]
Aaron Anderson’s 18-yard catch that appeared to put LSU in Ole Miss territory was overturned. He did not maintain control through the catch.
On fourth and five with just over 30 second left, Nussmeier ripped a laser beam to Anderson who caught it inside the five and took it into the endzone for a 23-yard score. The extra point made it a tied ballgame with 27 seconds left.
Caden Davis made a 57-yard field goal in the first overtime after a holding penalty and a false start backed Ole Miss up.
On LSU’s first play, Nussmeier fired for Lacy, and the field flooded with fans.
