The Rebels enter this week’s AP poll at No. 7 and are 7-0 for the first time since 2014. They also sit atop the standings in the SEC West.
After a six-year wait, Ole Miss got the long-awaited victory over a stubborn Auburn Tigers team last week 48-34. The Rebels will have to take the show on the road this week to face a different kind of tiger: LSU.
In what many expected to be a rebuilding season, Tigers head coach Brain Kelly has his LSU team sitting at 5-2 overall and tied for second in the SEC West, with a legitimate chance of going to the SEC Championship.
Last Saturday, the Tigers pulled off an impressive win over Florida 45-35 (a game in which LSU was the underdog). With Alabama losing to Tennessee, the SEC West is up for grabs.
Ole Miss defeated LSU in Oxford last year 31-17, but things won’t be so easy this time around. The difference is that the Tigers have a consistent playmaker at quarterback in Jayden Daniels and wherever he goes, the offense goes.
Here is what Ole Miss needs to do in order to defeat the Tigers.
Number one: contain Daniels and get a hold of the rushing defense. Daniels has 1,567 yards passing with only one interception and leads the team with 403 yards rushing.
Head coach Lane Kiffin had some high praise for Daniels.
“I thought he played great the other night, running and throwing,” Kiffin said in Monday’s press conference. “Very explosive player, and then they seem to have the receivers going and really were great on third down and great in general whenever they were throwing the ball.”
Number two: Continued heads-up play by the Ole Miss quarterback. Jaxson Dart has evolved into a solid quarterback, even appearing Matt Corral-esque at times. He has 1,400 yards passing and 11 touchdowns so far into the season.
Dart has shown that if the game plan requires him to throw deep, he can and will connect with his receivers down the field. If he sees an opening and has an opportunity to put his head down and run, he will do that as well.
Kiffin has had the same sentiments on Dart’s performance throughout the season so far.
“I think Jaxson (Dart) has done a really good job,” Kiffin said on Monday. “We’re running the system within the system. You don’t see a bunch of screwed-up plays or formations where it looks like he’s going the wrong way or the back is, and a lot of that is him communicating this stuff because of how we run this system and how fast it has to go. I think he’s done a great job with that.”
The final key for Ole Miss to succeed is the obvious: the run game.
The Rebels are averaging 271 yards rushing per game, which puts them third nationally and first in the SEC.
Freshman running back Quinshon Judkins and transfer running Zach Evans have a combined 1,325 yards rushing and 17 rushing touchdowns.
If the offensive line can continue to get a great push and open up holes for the backs, expect the rushing attack to terrify opposing defenses.
“Every game is independent,” Kiffin said Monday about being balanced on offense. “Every game plan is different every week. We’re a little unique that way in that you kind of never know what you’re going to see when you’re playing us. I’m not saying which way is bad or good, I’m just saying we change a lot, obviously year to year but even week to week. We always just try to give our players the best chance to win.”
Ole Miss kicks off at 2:30 p.m. CDT on Saturday, Oct. 22, on CBS in Baton Rouge, La.
