In a Nutshell: A Look at Ole Miss’ 31-17 win over LSU
OXFORD, Miss. – Here’s a quick glance at Ole Miss’ 31-17 victory over LSU at Vaught-Hemingway Saturday.
THE POSITIVE:
The response. After LSU basically dominated the first quarter of play, Ole Miss was not in a mood to quit. The Landsharks began to shut down LSU and the offense found its legs.
THE NEGATIVE:
Yeah, that is not the way a game is supposed to start. With a Vaught-Hemingway Stadium filled to the brim, if Ole Miss had gotten off to a quick start, the Tigers may have folded their tents. But the Rebels let LSU stay around a bit and it could have hurt.
THE KEY PLAY:
LSU had a chance to go ahead 14-0, but the Landsharks had an answer. With the Tigers facing a fourth down inside the Rebels’ five, Tysheem Johnson picked off a Max Johnson pass to halt an LSU threat.
THE KEY PLAYER:
Snoop Conner ran for 117 yards, but when the Rebels were backed up against their own end zone, the Hattiesburg native got the ball out of the shadow of the end zone and got the ball to midfield.
THE KEY UNIT:
With a bunch of injuries, the offensive line had to adapt to new positions. Orlando Umana slid from center to right guard and others stepped up after Ben Brown was unable to go. These guys were able to keep some continuity as the Rebels ran for 266 yards.
THE MOMENTUM SHIFTER:
After the LSU turnover, Ole Miss scored 17-unanswered points. The Tigers could never come back from that deficit.
WHAT THE GAME MEANS GOING FORWARD:
Auburn is 5-2 and had the day off. But the new Tigers’ coach must’ve watched the Ole Miss win on television. After, he may have watched “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” because he must be thinking, “Who are those guys?”
Steve Barnes
Steve Barnes joins The Rebel Walk staff as a senior writer and brings a trifecta of journalistic experience. As a writer, he has covered college sports for Rivals.com, Football.com and SaturdayDownSouth.com as well as served as a beat writer for various traditional newspapers.
He has been a broadcaster for arena football and several national tournament events for the National Junior College Athletic Association as well as hosting various shows on radio.
A former sports information director at Albany (Ga.) State University and an assistant at Troy and West Florida, he has helped host many NCAA conference, regional and national events, including serving five years on the media committee of the NCAA Division II World Series.
Barnes, a native of Pensacola, Fla., attended Ole Miss in 1983-84, where his first journalism teacher was David Kellum. The duo has come a long way since that time.
He will bring a proven journalistic track record, along with a knack for finding the out-of-the-ordinary story angles to The Rebel Walk.
Barnes continues to reside in Pensacola a mere ten minutes from the beach because he does have taste and a brain.
