The LSU Tigers made sure to dig themselves another hole, but as we’ve seen all season, that means they’ve got you right where they want you. The Tigers trailed 17-3 after the first play of the second quarter.
They finished on a 42-3 that included a 28-0 mark in the second half of a 45-20 win.
Coach Brian Kelly talked all week about his team coming together. We saw that as the offense and defense complemented each other perfectly for what ended up being a 25-point victory.
LSU QB Jayden Daniels was phenomenal, again. He accounted for five of the Tigers’ six touchdowns. You can see the growth in his game, clearly, since the rough opening loss to Florida State. The rally ability of the Tigers was clear that day, too – the execution wasn’t.
The Tigers’ defense was also staggered early on, with the Rebels rolling up 200 yards over the first 15 minutes.. They only managed 204 more yards over the final three quarters.
WIth all that in mind, here’s what stood out from the signature win, so far, in the Brian Kelly era.
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THE GOOD: Jayden Daniels
Daniels has become the sparkplug of the LSU offense, and he carried them in this one. The QB looked confident with his arm, completing 21 of his 28 for just under 250 yards passing and a pair of touchdowns. As usual, though, it was his legs that were impossible to stop.
Daniels led all rushers with 121 yards on the ground and three touchdowns. The Tigers offense averaged 6.6 yards per play, and Daniels’ rushing played a big part of that.
For the season, Daniels has 1,800 yards passing with 12 touchdowns along with 524 yards rushing and 9 more touchdowns. He’s only turned the ball over once, and that came on a desperation throw late against Tennessee with the game out of reach. He’s been elite-elite.
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MORE GOOD: LSU defense
LSU defensive coordinator Matt House probably wasn’t happy with the way his defense came out in this one, but I’m sure he was happy with the way they finished. The Rebels were held scoreless in the second half and QB Jaxson Dart was feeling the pressure drive after drive.
The momentum-changer in the game was a one-handed interception by Joe Foucha in the endzone that kept Ole Miss off the scoreboard on a potential go-ahead drive with LSU leading 24-20. LSU’s offense followed with a long drive for a TD that felt like it put them clear in control of the game.
Freshman linebacker Harold Perkins didn’t see the field on the Tigers first two defensive drives, but once he was brought into the ballgame he made an impact. Perkins was able to get two hits and a sack on Dart. Fellow middle linebacker Micah Baskerville led the team in tackles with eight, and applied the pressure that helped force the errant throw for Foucha to pick off.
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THE BAD: slow starts
It’s becoming a trend now with LSU that the first quarter is far from friendly to them. We saw them fall behind to Mississippi State 13-0, Auburn 17-0, Florida 21-14 and Ole Miss 17-3. In all four games LSU was able to come from behind to get the win with dominant second-half performances. That doesn’t include the first game of the season where LSU was an extra point away from completing the comeback. They never really had a chance to rally against Tennessee.
In those runs, LSU has outscored their opponents 122-20. So what do we make of this? LSU has the ability to make adjustments and not let the moment or momentum overwhelm them. That’s an important talent to have for a winning football team. They may want to use the open week to try to buck that trend, though. The Alabama Crimson Tide are headed to Tiger Stadium next, and that’s not a team you want to have to rely on comeback ability against.
MORE BAD: special Teams
Normally special teams would’ve fallen into the ugly category, so this is an upgrade. There were no mistakes this week that caused them to lose the ballgame.
But, come on. The Tigers can’t line up offside on the game’s opening kickoff. Mistakes like that don’t mean much, but it’s the mental factor of special teams mistakes that simply won’t go away.
Kicker Damian Ramos also missed from 42 yards, which ultimately didn’t hurt. He’s been reliable all season, though, so it’s less a concern than it is an annoyance..
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THE UGLY: n/a
It’s the first time this season I’ve been able to leave this section blank.
Other than Ole Miss’ normally ugly uniforms there wasn’t too much to factor in this one. I did think that rushing the field over a team that hasn’t won in Baton Rouge since 2008 was a bit much, but LSU students did rush the field against Ole Miss in 2014 when they were ranked #3 in the country.
Up next for the Tigers will be Alabama on the first weekend of November. They’ll get a week off and play in a game that could decide the winner of the SEC West this season.