The Challenges of the Ole Miss Offense<\/h3>\n
Pundits expected Ole Miss to be explosive coming into the season, and the Rebels have not disappointed. Ole Miss is currently second in the nation in total offense, averaging 577 yards per game. Quarterback Jaxson Dart<\/a> is third in passing yards per game with 350, which is 20 more yards than Garrett Nussmeier<\/a> averages. Tre Harris<\/a>, a Louisiana native, is leading the FBS in receiving yards, and no other receiver is even within 150 yards of his total.<\/p>\n With so much big play potential in the Ole Miss passing game, which defensive unit for LSU has the most pressure to perform under the Tiger Stadium lights? You guessed it, the linebackers. We\u2019re well aware of the Tigers\u2019 much-maligned secondary and understand the challenge they\u2019ll face. But the key to stopping the Rebels is limiting early down success to get them in obvious passing situations. Henry Parrish<\/a> led Ole Miss in rushing against Kentucky with 62 yards. It\u2019s no coincidence that the Rebels were 1-10 on third-down conversions in that game.<\/p>\n Bradyn Swinson<\/a>, Sai\u2019vion Jones<\/a>, and Da’shawn Womack<\/a> can make an impact against the Ole Miss offensive line that has been inconsistent at best in SEC play. As impressive as the skill positions are, Kiffin\u2019s offensive production has dipped in the last two games. Averaging 580 total yards is crazy, but the Rebels have only averaged 389 yards in their first two SEC games.<\/p>\n Kentucky kept the talented Ole Miss defensive line off balance<\/a> with a healthy dose of quarterback runs to cause hesitation, prevent the defense from keying in on its running back, and keep drives alive. Joe Sloan can\u2019t attack in the same way unless he uses a wildcat quarterback at times, and we\u2019ve seen nothing to lead us to believe that strategy is imminent. Even so, LSU needs to win the time of possession battle in this game.<\/p>\n Running the ball against the Rebels is easier said than done, as evidenced by their top spot in the FBS rushing defense rankings. In a battle of strengths, LSU must be creative on third and short. LSU has overcome some short-yardage failures to become a top-10 team in third-down conversions. Ole Miss is third in that regard. As good as freshman phenom Caden Durham<\/a> has looked lately<\/a>, Walter Noland is an interior force like no other on the defensive line. Attacking the edges with runners and completing short passes will be critical for LSU\u2019s success. The Ole Miss corners are solid in coverage, but vulnerable in space against twitchy athletes like Aaron Anderson<\/a>.<\/p>\n Now that Durham has stepped up at the running back position, one of the only knocks on the LSU offense is the lack of explosive plays. That\u2019s not necessarily a bad thing against Ole Miss. Big plays are great, but they also put the defense back on the field without much rest. There will be times when LSU creates advantageous matchups and takes shots, as they should. The problem is Ole Miss can go shot for shot with anybody. Long, sustained drives against the Rebel defense are more detrimental by keeping their offense off the field and out of rhythm.<\/p>\n This game will come down to LSU getting consistent pressure on Dart. The veteran Ole Miss quarterback will make some plays; he\u2019s too accurate and experienced to get shut down. He\u2019ll also take a hit in the pocket if that\u2019s what it takes to make the throw. As with most quarterbacks, the accumulation of hits takes a toll on his accuracy.<\/p>\n Despite the criticism of the Tiger secondary, players have been in position to make plays. At some point, defensive backs must stay calm when in phase and play the ball. At the halfway point of the season, youth is no excuse for panicky pass interference penalties.<\/p>\n LSU will score, but the Tigers haven\u2019t proven that they can play mistake-free football. False starts from veteran players at home won\u2019t fly against Ole Miss. Predetermined targets regardless of coverage can cost the home team the game. The Tigers need a clean game to come out with the win.<\/p>\n With a 6:30 central kickoff, the intangibles are on LSU\u2019s side. The stadium will be rocking, and the fans will be spirit-filled in more ways than one. The Rebels haven\u2019t won in Baton Rouge since 2008. The sharks in Vegas are expecting a close one, as the line has shrunk from Ole Miss by five to now -3.5. In a series filled with close games, this one is shaping up to be another classic.<\/p>\n LSU Takes on Eighth-Ranked Ole Miss Cooler weather, high stakes, and a top-ten matchup will combine to create a college football utopia as LSU hosts Ole Miss on Saturday. This game will be the 112th meeting between the old SEC West rivals and comes with both SEC and playoff implications. Neither team can likely afford […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4690,"featured_media":66032,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,35582,3],"tags":[33751,495,86,258,20],"class_list":["post-66012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-ole-miss-rebels","category-sec","tag-joe-sloan","tag-lane-kiffin","tag-lsu-tigers","tag-ole-miss-rebels","tag-sec"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4690"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66012"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66012\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77917,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66012\/revisions\/77917"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What LSU needs from offense<\/h3>\n
How it Plays Out<\/h3>\n
![\"LSU](\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/10\/USATSI_24355143_168400536_lowres-300x214.jpg\")