QB Film Room: Ole Miss showcased its many offensive weapons in win over LSU
Editor’s Note: Welcome to the QB1 Film Room where David Walker, former four-year starting NCAA quarterback and two-year captain, takes a look at the Rebels’ most recent offensive performance. David still holds the record for the NCAA’s youngest starting quarterback — as he played his entire freshman year as a 17-year-old — and was the first quarterback awarded Freshman of the Year in college football.
OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss won a barn-burner last Saturday in Oxford, defeating LSU 55-49 on the final play of the game. We’re going to take a look at some of the offensive firepower that made this win possible.
But, first, who could blame you, if at least for a brief moment during the game, the Rebels’ 2022 matchup at LSU wasn’t flashing through your memory’s headlines? As it did last season in Baton Rouge, Ole Miss once again got off to a splendid start, grabbing a 14-0 lead in the first quarter of this one.
The Rebs scored on two of their first three possessions on drives of 75 and 71 yards, capped off by a Quinshon Judkins touchdown reception and a 43-yard scamper by Ulysses Bentley IV. A year ago it had been Judkins who’d found the end zone twice on touchdown runs, and after his second score the undefeated Ole Miss Rebels held a 14-3 lead in Death Valley.
And as in 2022, the 2023 Tigers were unperturbed.
Star SEC quarterback Jayden Daniels drove his Tigers 75 yards for LSU’s first touchdown of the game. The Rebels answered with one of their own to push their lead back to 14 at 21-7. A year ago at one juncture in the game it was 17-3, Rebels.
And back came the Tigers in this one, too, covering another 78 yards and cutting the lead to 21-14 early in the second quarter.
Track meet, anyone? Yet, there was one big difference between this game and last year’s. The Rebels were unstoppable, as were the Tigers, in the second quarter. Each traded 75-yard or longer TD drives and with a chance to tie it just before halftime, LSU missed a 56-yard field goal. The Rebels went in with a 3-point, 31-28 lead in Oxford.
Now, they’d also led last year by three at the half, 20-17. The combined yardage for these two teams sat at an incredible 760 yards at the mid-way point of this one.
And this is where some of the similarities to last year ended.
Oh, the Rebels would fall behind again as they did in Tiger Stadium, but they didn’t lay there. This team had plenty left in the tank. They took on the challenge in astoundingly grand fashion.
Coach Kiffin has said he believes this year’s group is better equipped to handle adversity than last season’s team. They proved him right Saturday.
In 2022, the Tigers scored four unanswered touchdowns after the half to win going away. In this one, they scored on both of their possessions of the third quarter, countered by only an Ole Miss field goal, to take a 42-34 lead. This game once again appeared to be playing into their hands just as LSU had drawn it up.
But, not so fast, Tigers. This Rebel offense was hot and had some lethal weapons. It also had a leader who’d lost to his quarterbacking counterpart in their previous two meetings and was looking for redemption.
Yes, Jaxson Dart and Jayden Daniels had met even before last year’s game in Baton Rouge. That was in 2021 when Dart was still splitting time at USC and Daniels was quarterbacking Arizona State.
THIS Jaxson Dart was on a mission, still in search of what we refer to as a “signature” win. If there was ever going to be one, this would be as good as any going forward. He’d played error-free ball thus far, but this LSU team was on a roll that only Dart’s Ole Miss offense could overcome.
The Rebels got the ball back — down eight points with three minutes to play in the third quarter — and started a pivotal march to the LSU end zone, converting two third downs and a 4th-and-2 in the process. The two-point play didn’t hit but still, this offense had broken through in the second half against the LSU Tigers.
Yet, the Tigers soon scored on a controversial catch with 8:34 left in the game to push their lead to a seemingly insurmountable 49-40 score. This TD came after the Tigers had prevailed on a 4th-down try by the Rebels at the LSU 45. It was at this point looking dark, indeed.
But this was a different team, a different offense, and a different quarterback from 2022. This team would leave it all on the field in both guts and glory.
First, these Rebels would go 65 yards to pull within 49-47, and then the defense forced LSU to punt for the second time in the fourth quarter. This was obviously huge because LSU hadn’t punted since its opening drive of the game!
The Rebels then, marvelously and rather unbelievably, traveled 88 yards in 8 plays in under two minutes to retake the lead, 55-49. After that, it was “hold onto your hat” time because, well, Daniels, the SEC’s leading Heisman candidate, still had a shot.
And with only five seconds left in the game at the 15-yard line, star LSU WR Malik Nabers was called for procedure, moving the ball back a huge 5 yards to the Ole Miss 20. It was now unlikely that Daniels would attempt to run it in, meaning one more incompletion, interception or sack would seal the deal.
And this time, maybe of all times, the football Gods smiled on the Rebels and their packed house of frothing, rabid fans. Daniels’ pass, fired dramatically after a hold-your-breath runaround scramble, sailed a tad high and split through his receiver’s hands in the end zone before flying into the ground.
And with a combination of excited screams and deep exhalations, this amazing comeback was complete in one of the Rebels’ greatest rivalries. Everyone close to the field then instinctively and collectively ran out onto the field and the celebration of 2023’s biggest win so far was on.
It was a football classic won in classic fashion, an offensive showcase and quarterback duel that were second to none in a highlight barrage between two ranked teams. With it the Rebels’ quarterback had finally secured his legacy win and some bragging rights over a highly respected foe.
Let’s roll the tape.
Video 1
On the opening drive, Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart runs for 10 on a big 3rd and 5 situation. The Rebs pull the left guard for the kick-out block with the H-Back turning it upfield behind him as lead blocker. This conversion would set the tone for the Rebel offense.
Video 2
Here on 4th & Goal, the Rebels line up in a bunch formation to the right, then send Judkins to that side for a flare route. It’s likely designed to be thrown before he crosses the line of scrimmage, but we’ll count it nonetheless.
Video 3
Here, working the counter blocking scheme with the pulling guard and H-Back, the Rebels offset RB Ulysses Bentley at I-back depth. The cutback and a broken tackle lead to a 43-yard touchdown run and a 14-0 lead.
Video 4
Next, Dart rides the ball into the RB’s belly. This holds the linebacker in place just long enough to zip a throw into Watkins on an in-route. The catch and run are good for a 63-yard touchdown.
Video 5
Here on 3rd & 11 from the LSU 15, the Rebels line up in trips to the right side and run the double-cross. Wade goes left to right across the ball and is completely uncovered for a 15-yard score.
Video 6
From the trips formation up top the Rebels put Harris in motion to the right. TE Prieskorn runs the corner route and Harris comes back underneath, catches the ball and slips a tackle for a 56-yard gain. QB Dart stands tall in the pocket with a rush up the middle and one off the edge coming inches from him just as he releases the ball.
Video 7
Here we’re 3rd & 10 at the Ole Miss 37, down 35-31, and the Tigers send both inside linebackers on a blitz out of their 42 defense. They’re picked up nicely by the center and running back, and Dart finds Prieskorn down the middle for a huge 3rd-down pickup.
Video 8
Here on the next possession, the Rebels are at their own 38 and it’s 3rd & 11 in a 42-34 ball game. Ole Miss goes with the trips with the TE the 3rd receiver. He runs the Y-option and beats the inside linebacker on a deep out route, perfectly timed and thrown by Dart. It’s another huge conversion.
Video 9
On 1st & 19 at the LSU 49, Dart can’t find a receiver but he does find an opening, eventually implementing the hurdle-jumping technique on an LSU safety. The run is good for 27 yards.
Video 10
With the LSU defense crashing inside, Dart hands off to the man who has a real nose for the end zone against these Tigers. Judkins scores on an 11-yard run when LSU loses containment.
Video 11
Now down 49-40 at the 8-minute mark of the 4th quarter, Dart finds Harris on a quick out to the right. Harris does the work from there, breaking one tackle and breaking the ankles of a second defender on this 33-yard gain.
Video 12
Two keys to winning are playing hard and not lining up beat.
Video 13
Here, now in the final minute of the game and down by two, the Rebels run a very safe bubble route to Bentley behind three downfield blockers. It’s good for 17 yards and a first down at the LSU 13.
Video 14
From an analytics standpoint, maybe you want to score right here and maybe you don’t, but Harris decides not to err on the side of caution. With the assistance of a great block by Prieskorn, he jukes his way into the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown, culminating a clutch 8-play, 88-yard game-winning drive.
Next Up
Ole Miss hosts Arkansas in another key SEC contest Saturday, October 7, at Vaught-Hemingway. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CT and the game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
Hotty Toddy!
David Walker
David is the consummate true-freshman quarterback, first pioneering the position only a year after college freshmen were given varsity eligibility by the NCAA in 1972. In 1973, the left-handed all-state gunslinger from Sulphur, Louisiana started for the Texas A&M Aggies and earned the All-Southwest Conference Freshman of the Year award as selected by the league’s coaches. David is the first college quarterback ever awarded Freshman of the Year in the NCAA. He was only 17, and still holds the NCAA record as the youngest starting quarterback in college football history. He wore No. 8 at A&M in honor of one of his football heroes, Archie Manning.
In becoming the winningest quarterback ever at A&M, David was converted from a dual-threat QB to a triple option trailblazer. The two-time team captain led three record-breaking offenses that changed the direction of football at A&M forever, establishing once and for all the winning tradition that the Aggies had so-long desired.
As a high school head coach in Houston in the late ‘80s, David stationed his quarterback in the shotgun formation, having him reading defenses and throwing hot routes at a time when such offensive schemes were frowned upon by traditional fans and coaches. One of his quarterbacks tossed 57 passes in a single game, which stood as the all-time Greater Houston Area record for many years.
As you can tell from his bona fides, David is extremely qualified as our expert on all things Quarterback at Ole Miss. Enjoy his exclusive analysis only here at The Rebel Walk!
