Ole Miss will need to do a lot of work to be ready for Texas A&M in College Station next week. The Rebels are banged up and played shorthanded on defense for the majority of the game on Saturday. Ole Miss simply hasn’t lost much, so there’s an odd reality to the days following one. And, maybe more importantly, it was a loss to LSU where Ole Miss led at halftime and erases what was a golden opportunity in the weeks ahead. Sure, the season or the chase for the SEC West isn’t over, but that was a dagger with the loss to the Tigers. And what did it uncover about the Rebels over time? We’ll find out.
It was also a bit of an implosion. Ole Miss couldn’t block Ole Miss in the second half. Simple as that. The Tigers drew up pressures and executed them. It was the difference in the game on that side of the ball. Ole Miss’ lack of doing the same was the story on the other side.
Ole Miss needs a bye week badly. Zach Evans didn’t play. AJ Finley missed a lot of the game. Troy Brown tweaked that injured shoulder. Malik Heath left with what looked like a shoulder injury. Other players are trying to play though ailments, but the week off doesn’t come until after the Aggies in a week.
It’s never about one play, but that Casey Kelly drop on the third down in the third quarter felt just huge. A catch and it’s first down a chance to extend the lead and take over momentum in the second half. Instead, Kelly dropped it, Ole Miss punted, and LSU took the lead it wouldn’t again relinquish. Ole Miss is desperately missing Michael Trigg in the passing game. Ole Miss had gotten that stop out of intermission, and the drop just negated it completely.
Ole Miss scored 14 points in its first two drives but didn’t score another touchdown. The long absences have become a trademark of the team. The Rebels have been overcoming it. They didn’t in this one. The interception in the end zone was a disaster. Ole Miss had gotten away with a couple errand passes early but didn’t in that one. LSU made something happen with pressure, something Ole Miss couldn’t do on the other side. It was interference on the receiver, but the pass needed to be closer to get that type of call.
I don’t know anything about defensive schemes, but the three-man front isn’t stopping the run. I don’t know if Ole Miss doesn’t trust the depth or it’s simply what they think works best, but it’s a major problem right now. A lot of the matchups the rest of the way can be run-first offenses that are physical. Ole Miss has tried to bend and get off the field eventually, but they didn’t make LSU beat them deep or make plays under pressure.
Ole Miss brought blitz some but rarely got home. If you’re going to bring that type of pressure, it has to cause disruption. Instead, it just caused mismatches and gave LSU opportunities with the quarterback scramble and in the passing game. The Rebels had to force the issue. Jayden Daniels can get rattled and make mistakes. Ole Miss didn’t consistently put him under that type of duress.
Rinse, repeat, Quinshon Judkins is a stud. I know it’s obvious, but he leads the country in two-touchdown games. He did one hell of a job as the feature back on Saturday in Evans’ absence.
Jonathan Cruz has been an excellent pick-up. He’s great. From distance and accuracy, Cruz is having a great season.
The officials called the game tight throughout the afternoon. Some calls greatly benefited Ole Miss, and some benefited LSU. But when you’re going to call it that tightly, it becomes more obvious when you miss them. That pass interference on Ole Miss in the red zone wasn’t catchable. The receiver was being held on the Dart interception. They were flag happy all day and mostly right. The PI on Mingo was correct. But when you’re flag happy and you eat it occasionally, it becomes more noticeable. Ole Miss didn’t lose because of officiating though. The inability to tackle and pressure and inability to block were going to eventually make the difference.
I’ll be glad when Gary Danielson moves on from this broadcast. This isn’t really the place for this take, but he is a negative for the broadcast. In this age of college football, when Ole Miss, Kentucky and elevating and there’s a shift to who is good and why, Danielson still calls games based on the helmet. It’s not always obvious, and it’s not constant. It’s not like he doesn’t applaud all teams, but I get why he grates on your nerves. There’s a sense of shock when the team he expects to lose does some good things, and there’s a benefit of doubt to the calls that becomes apparent over the nearly four hours. He did the same thing to Tennessee last week. But, also, LSU deserved the praise. That was a mauling once it got rolling in the second half.
However, in saying that, LSU dominated this game on the scoreboard after the first three Ole Miss drives. The Rebels led 17-3 before LSU went on a 42-3 run. The offense didn’t execute in the red zone and as the goal line neared, and the defense couldn’t contain LSU on the ground. The Rebels are still a thin team in spots, and it became very apparent. Ole Miss was also slow on the second and third levels.
Ole Miss has played two teams with a pulse and is 1-1 in those games. The Rebels aren’t as bad as they looked at times on Saturday, but you’ll need some thick skin this week as the media takes plenty of shots about how this is the Rebels and LSU exposed the true identity. The next four games over five weeks will determine the accuracy of that take, but it’s not going to be a fun week for you. Just be prepared. I’m not sure where I fall on the spectrum right now.
Ole Miss missed that overthrow with Mingo wide open. Looking back, that was a huge play. The Rebels had to be frontrunners to win this one. Once LSU was able to just run the offense at a level score, that was that. The Tigers were better with execution and scheme.
Jaxson Dart had a great first half but missed a few throws after halftime and the protection was a total breakdown. The Tigers were disruptive on the edges and up the middle and it completely took Ole Miss out of its offense on critical plays. LSU isn’t this much better than Ole Miss, but it took advantage of matchup advantages.
Heath turned nine targets into seven catches for 144 yards. Mingo had only three catches on seven targets.
It was also a bit of an implosion. Ole Miss couldn’t block Ole Miss in the second half. Simple as that. The Tigers drew up pressures and executed them. It was the difference in the game on that side of the ball. Ole Miss’ lack of doing the same was the story on the other side.
Ole Miss needs a bye week badly. Zach Evans didn’t play. AJ Finley missed a lot of the game. Troy Brown tweaked that injured shoulder. Malik Heath left with what looked like a shoulder injury. Other players are trying to play though ailments, but the week off doesn’t come until after the Aggies in a week.
It’s never about one play, but that Casey Kelly drop on the third down in the third quarter felt just huge. A catch and it’s first down a chance to extend the lead and take over momentum in the second half. Instead, Kelly dropped it, Ole Miss punted, and LSU took the lead it wouldn’t again relinquish. Ole Miss is desperately missing Michael Trigg in the passing game. Ole Miss had gotten that stop out of intermission, and the drop just negated it completely.
Ole Miss scored 14 points in its first two drives but didn’t score another touchdown. The long absences have become a trademark of the team. The Rebels have been overcoming it. They didn’t in this one. The interception in the end zone was a disaster. Ole Miss had gotten away with a couple errand passes early but didn’t in that one. LSU made something happen with pressure, something Ole Miss couldn’t do on the other side. It was interference on the receiver, but the pass needed to be closer to get that type of call.
I don’t know anything about defensive schemes, but the three-man front isn’t stopping the run. I don’t know if Ole Miss doesn’t trust the depth or it’s simply what they think works best, but it’s a major problem right now. A lot of the matchups the rest of the way can be run-first offenses that are physical. Ole Miss has tried to bend and get off the field eventually, but they didn’t make LSU beat them deep or make plays under pressure.
Ole Miss brought blitz some but rarely got home. If you’re going to bring that type of pressure, it has to cause disruption. Instead, it just caused mismatches and gave LSU opportunities with the quarterback scramble and in the passing game. The Rebels had to force the issue. Jayden Daniels can get rattled and make mistakes. Ole Miss didn’t consistently put him under that type of duress.
Rinse, repeat, Quinshon Judkins is a stud. I know it’s obvious, but he leads the country in two-touchdown games. He did one hell of a job as the feature back on Saturday in Evans’ absence.
Jonathan Cruz has been an excellent pick-up. He’s great. From distance and accuracy, Cruz is having a great season.
The officials called the game tight throughout the afternoon. Some calls greatly benefited Ole Miss, and some benefited LSU. But when you’re going to call it that tightly, it becomes more obvious when you miss them. That pass interference on Ole Miss in the red zone wasn’t catchable. The receiver was being held on the Dart interception. They were flag happy all day and mostly right. The PI on Mingo was correct. But when you’re flag happy and you eat it occasionally, it becomes more noticeable. Ole Miss didn’t lose because of officiating though. The inability to tackle and pressure and inability to block were going to eventually make the difference.
I’ll be glad when Gary Danielson moves on from this broadcast. This isn’t really the place for this take, but he is a negative for the broadcast. In this age of college football, when Ole Miss, Kentucky and elevating and there’s a shift to who is good and why, Danielson still calls games based on the helmet. It’s not always obvious, and it’s not constant. It’s not like he doesn’t applaud all teams, but I get why he grates on your nerves. There’s a sense of shock when the team he expects to lose does some good things, and there’s a benefit of doubt to the calls that becomes apparent over the nearly four hours. He did the same thing to Tennessee last week. But, also, LSU deserved the praise. That was a mauling once it got rolling in the second half.
However, in saying that, LSU dominated this game on the scoreboard after the first three Ole Miss drives. The Rebels led 17-3 before LSU went on a 42-3 run. The offense didn’t execute in the red zone and as the goal line neared, and the defense couldn’t contain LSU on the ground. The Rebels are still a thin team in spots, and it became very apparent. Ole Miss was also slow on the second and third levels.
Ole Miss has played two teams with a pulse and is 1-1 in those games. The Rebels aren’t as bad as they looked at times on Saturday, but you’ll need some thick skin this week as the media takes plenty of shots about how this is the Rebels and LSU exposed the true identity. The next four games over five weeks will determine the accuracy of that take, but it’s not going to be a fun week for you. Just be prepared. I’m not sure where I fall on the spectrum right now.
Ole Miss missed that overthrow with Mingo wide open. Looking back, that was a huge play. The Rebels had to be frontrunners to win this one. Once LSU was able to just run the offense at a level score, that was that. The Tigers were better with execution and scheme.
Jaxson Dart had a great first half but missed a few throws after halftime and the protection was a total breakdown. The Tigers were disruptive on the edges and up the middle and it completely took Ole Miss out of its offense on critical plays. LSU isn’t this much better than Ole Miss, but it took advantage of matchup advantages.
Heath turned nine targets into seven catches for 144 yards. Mingo had only three catches on seven targets.
