Entering the season, the Ole Miss vs. LSU rivalry was one of the most-talked-about storylines in college football. With narratives involving Lane Kiffin’s villain arc and Pete Golding’s stature as a head coach, this year’s Magnolia Bowl will hold the nation’s attention. The Rebel defense comes into Week 3 struggling, while the Tigers offense has not looked particularly sharp, despite scoring 40 or more points in both games to begin the season.
Both Ole Miss and LSU have had rocky starts to the season. LSU beat Clemson 51-10 in Week 1. This seemed like complete domination of a good team; however, Clemson followed up that loss by struggling to a 22-7 win over Georgia Southern.
This is clearly not the lauded Clemson program whose players competed for National Championships and Heisman Trophies in recent years. This win by LSU seems far less impressive now — but, at the time, it definitely hyped LSU up.
In Week 2, the Tigers beat LA Tech 45-14. However, LSU only led 10-7 at halftime.
LSU’s quarterback, Sam Leavitt, was mainly responsible for the putrid halftime score with a very poor second quarter. An LSU receiver fumbled on the Tigers’ first drive of the second quarter; Leavitt then threw interceptions on the next three drives.
After the game, Leavitt discussed how the LA Tech game will help improve the Tigers’ focus.
“I think it’s a reality check,” Leavitt said after the game on Saturday. “We definitely need to practice better (and) practice harder. (I am) really upset at myself. (Those interceptions) can’t happen.”
These struggles strike at the root of LSU’s main concern: Can Leavitt play well? LSU landed their esteemed quarterback transfer from Arizona State in the offseason, yet he has not lived up to his reported NIL deal of $4.5 million. He is a dual-threat quarterback and can certainly run well; however, his threat in the passing game is often due to the other team’s poor defense rather than his own abilities or those of his receivers.
Through two games so far, Leavitt has thrown two touchdowns and four interceptions. His rushing talent carries his game — he has run for 135 yards and five touchdowns so far. The Ole Miss defense has struggled to contain running quarterbacks, as evidenced by Louisville quarterback Lincoln Kienholz’s 69 rushing yards in Week 1.
However, college football is a week-by-week sport, and anything can happen any Saturday. Ole Miss and LSU have formed an almost interconnected relationship between the players and coaches that have shifted between the schools.
What this matchup will come down to is how Leavitt and the LSU offense stack up against the Ole Miss defense. Quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy will not lose the game for the Rebels, nor will the LSU defense win the game for the Tigers. The deciding factor, instead, will be which unit can step up and make plays when needed — the Tiger offense or the Rebel defense?
Through two games, Ole Miss has not played spectacular defense and head coach Pete Golding harped on the secondary’s struggles in his postgame press conference following the Charlotte win.
“We’re going to continue trying to find five guys in the back end who do s–t right, because right now, we don’t have five,” Golding said.
The secondary has looked confused in both games. On multiple occasions, two players have ended up covering the same man, allowing the opposing offenses to take deep shots.
Golding’s defense did cut down on the amount of explosive plays allowed against Charlotte; this was a vast improvement from Week 1 against Louisville. In the postgame press conference, Golding revisited the Louisville game and described why limiting explosive plays is so important.
“(We are focusing on) eliminating the explosive plays. We had 12 explosive plays (allowed) last week for 340 yards,” Golding said. “I mean, it’s hard to beat anybody that way, and to beat a Top-25 team, that’s tough.”
Obviously, the Rebels will want to limit the explosiveness of the LSU offense in the Magnolia Bowl. We will all have to wait until Saturday night in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium to see whether the Ole Miss defense will step up and notch another landmark victory or suffer a major defeat.
