Takeaways from the Rebels’ loss to LSU
BATON ROUGE — Ole Miss suffered its first loss of the season at the hands of LSU in Baton Rouge on Saturday. The loss drops the Rebels to 7-1, 3-1 (SEC). Here are some takeaways from the game.
Defense had no answer
Simply, there was just nothing the Rebel defense could seem to do to stop the Tigers on Saturday.
It is worth noting that the Ole Miss defense was banged up entering the contest, and losing AJ Finley and Troy Brown during the game definitely didn’t help. That being said, it is hard to know how much difference a healthy defense would have made in this one.
Ole Miss tried everything it could to slow down the Tiger offense, but nothing the Rebels threw at them proved to be successful. LSU had an answer for everything. Early on, the three-man rush was allowing quarterback Jayden Daniels all day to make plays, which is something that absolutely cannot happen when you go against him.
The Rebels adjusted by throwing a number of blitz packages at the Tigers, but the rushers still weren’t getting to the LSU QB and that allowed the short passing game to bust wide open.
Coach Kiffin was asked about the source of the defensive woes.
“Lot of things, missed tackles, we got pushed around, had some injuries out there during the game….we didn’t do a lot right defensively…”
Coach Kiffin on the Ole Miss defense against LSU
The Tigers beat Ole Miss up front, and the Rebs had very little success stopping the run plays up the gut. Tackling was an issue in this game, as Ole Miss was credited with 11 missed tackles. LSU, on the other hand, only missed five.
Additionally, the Rebels pressured LSU 9 times in the game, while the Tigers pressured Ole Miss a whopping 19 times.
It was just an overall rough day for the defensive unit.
Banged up Rebels
Ole Miss is extremely banged up and if it doesn’t get any better, it could prove costly with the meat of the schedule coming up.
The Rebels took the field without running back Zach Evans (knee) and tight end Michael Trigg (collarbone). They lost safety AJ Finley (mild concussion) and linebacker Troy Brown during the game, while Malik Heath and Jaxson Dart took some blows as well. Defensive lineman Cedric Johnson only played 19 of 79 snaps as he has also been injured.
The Rebels looked tired in Death Valley. There is still one tough road matchup to play — this Saturday at Texas A&M — before Ole Miss gets that much-needed bye week.
Growing pains
Ole Miss’ young guys looked like, well, young guys against LSU. Dart played well in the first half and showed some real toughness after taking a shot in the third quarter. But he also made some mistakes at critical times today. He impresses me every week, but he’s just 19 and there’s still a lot of room for him to grow.
Defensively, there were some new players who had not been in an environment like that before. Some of the Rebel youngsters just didn’t quite look themselves on the big stage in Baton Rouge.
I think this game says a lot about where the program is right now. Ole Miss is getting better every day as a program. It’s put itself in a position to compete for the West often, but still has work to do to make that happen. The Rebels are getting closer but are not quite there yet.
It also says a lot about the Rebels that LSU rushed the field after knocking off Ole Miss. On Sunday, the Tigers were fined $250,000 by the league office for their celebration. The last time they stormed the field? A 36-16 win over Georgia in 2018.
Rebels still have a shot at the West
Ole Miss can still win the SEC West with a little help along the way.
If the Rebs can leave College Station with a win, they’ll then have a bye week to rest before hosting Alabama. Ole Miss would be 8-1 with a shot to take control of the SEC West. They’ll still need someone to give the Tigers a loss, but that could easily happen in this division.
It’s going to be extremely tough, but when is making a run at the West not? Alabama still has issues, and Ole Miss has plenty of what it takes to knock off Arkansas and Mississippi State. Even if winning the West becomes out of reach, a ten-win season and a New Years’ Six bowl game are still very much on the table.
While Ole Miss will need to fix some things and get some players healthy, the Rebels still have a very talented group of athletes and a top-tier coaching staff.
Hang in there, Rebel Nation! There’s a lot of ball left to play.
(Feature image credit: Josh McCoy, Ole Miss)
Dillon Cader
Dillon is from Yazoo City, Ms. He is a senior journalism major pursuing a career in sportswriting. He grew up an Ole Miss fan and has always followed Ole Miss sports as well as the Dallas Cowboys and Atlanta Braves. He played football and basketball in high school and enjoys spending time with friends and family.
