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Ole Miss has big goals of beating No. 6 Alabama in a couple of weeks and eventually winning its first SEC Championship since 1963. But to do so, it will have to get past rival LSU first.
The Rebels (7-0, 3-0 in SEC) are the last remaining undefeated team in the SEC West, so they have as good a shot as they’ve had in years to get over the hump. They are anything but a sure bet to get there, however, as they are expected to lose at LSU (5-2, 3-1 in SEC) this Saturday, per ESPN. ESPN gives the Tigers a win probability of 51.3 percent.
No. 7 Ole Miss snapped a five-game losing streak in the series a year ago in a 31-17 home victory. The Rebels have lost six in a row at Tiger Stadium, with their last win coming in 2008. They came painfully close in 2020 to snapping the streak, losing 53-48 after building an eight-point fourth-quarter lead.
LSU leads the all-time series 64-41-4.
Not only does LSU have history on its side, but the Tigers’ most recent performance should give them the confidence they need heading into a second-consecutive game at home against a top-10 opponent.
For LSU, what a difference a week made after their free fall against No. 3 Tennessee. There were no breakdowns on “Tom Petty Day at The Swamp” against Florida, as the Tigers roared to a 45-35 win.
Quarterback Jayden Daniels looked as if he unlocked the code. He delivered this beautiful deep ball to Jaray Jenkins, who ran into the great wide open.
Daniels finished the night 23-of-32 for 349 yards and three touchdowns. He added 44 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Daniels has thrown for at least 300 yards in back-to-back games. He’ll need a third in a row to keep up with a prolific Ole Miss offense.
The Rebels have an elite rushing attack that will most likely give a middle-of-the-pack Tigers rush defense fits. They average 271.4 rushing yards while LSU allows 145.6.
Their offense has also been operating at a super-efficient level. In their victory over Vanderbilt, for example, the Commodores absolutely crushed the Rebels in time of possession, 41:17 to 18:43. Ole Miss still won by 24 points, 52-28. In three SEC games, Ole Miss’s longest touchdown drive lasted three minutes and 43 seconds. In other words, LSU won’t be able to play keep away against Ole Miss. They’ll need to score points.
Doing so might be tough against an Ole Miss defense that has been opportunistic this season.
Last week, the Rebels forced turnovers on two of Auburn’s first four possessions in jumping out to a 21-0 lead. Early in the year, in a huge victory over Kentucky, Ole Miss forced turnovers on the Wildcats’ final two possessions, both deep in Ole Miss territory.
Daniels has only thrown one interception on the season, so the defense will have its work cut out for it. Forcing turnovers Saturday could turn the Rebels’ fortune around for good.
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