Ed Orgeron knew his LSU squad needed to put up points to have a chance at pulling off an upset in Oxford, and that knowledge played out on the field.
It could be seen in the decision to go for it on 4th and goal from the 3-yard line, and the decision to send out Cade York for a field goal attempt from 55 yards in the first half. One resulted in an interception, the other a miss and excellent starting field position for the Rebels, and the game unraveled from there in a 31-17 loss that drops LSU to 4-4 (2-3 SEC) on the year.
“We knew we had to score points. You play this team, just like last year. Last year we went for it on 4th down and it worked out for us,” Orgeron said. "We knew we had to score points to beat this team, so any time we had the opportunity to score the most points, we did.”
The result marked the first time Ole Miss — one of Orgeron’s former head coaching stops — had walked away with a win in a head-to-head matchup with LSU since he took over in Baton Rouge. They had lost the previous five games, including a shootout at Tiger Stadium to end the 2020 season.
This year’s game got off to a perfect start for the Tigers, stopping the Ole Miss offense and driving down for a score to get up 7-0 early. But those 10 points left on the board coincided with a trip of Ole Miss scores to end the half, putting LSU in a hole they were never able to crawl out of.
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It was a result that might lead some to question whether Orgeron’s heart is really in the final stretch of games he’s coaching despite the announcement earlier in the week that the program will be hiring a new coach to replace him following the year. Orgeron didn’t need many words for his response to that idea, even after a tough loss.
"Never," Orgeron said simply, pausing before continuing. "Never. Not even a thought."
LSU has a week off, but it only gets more difficult from here with a matchup against No. 4 Alabama in Tuscaloosa looming.
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MORE FROM ORGERON
DID LSU ABANDON THE RUN TOO EARLY?
The Tigers' hot start was driven in large part by big contributions on the ground from Ty Davis-Price and Corey Kiner, but success was difficult to come by on the ground after the first two possessions.
Orgeron credited the Rebels' pressure and pointed to LSU's offense getting behind the chains too often throughout the day as the culprits for why the running game disappeared. Davis-Price finished with 53 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries, while Kiner added 49 yards on his 10 carries.
“We just got behind on the chains a little bit, we tried to throw the football — plus we got behind. First quarter we were just taking our time, we wanted to keep the ball away from them, I thought we did a good job of that, but then we couldn’t capitalize when we needed to.”
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THOUGHTS ON MAX JOHNSON & GARRETT NUSSMEIER
LSU's starting quarterback had a solid start, but struggled as the pressure ramped up. His fourth-down interception on the goal line was ultimately the same result as a throwaway would've been, but a pair of sack-fumbles helped tilt the momentum squarely on Ole Miss's end. He rolled up just 146 yards passing (13-for-21) before giving way to Garrett Nussmeier, who led a pair of scoring drives, the second of which ended with a touchdown to Malik Nabers, the first of Nussmeier's college career.
Orgeron on Johnson: “They had too much pressure on the quarterback. We had some miscues, we had a couple of missed assignments — the quarterback fumbled the ball, it was a big deal. We couldn’t run the ball like we wanted to, and we couldn’t get the ball downfield because the protection wasn’t good enough to get the ball downfield."
Orgeron on Nussmeier: “I thought he gave us a little spark. Garrett’s like that. Garrett’s a high-energy guy. He went out there and gave us a little spark. We’re gonna have to look at it. I’m not saying that Max was doing poorly, I think he didn’t have enough time. We just wanted to give Garrett a chance. We needed a little change of pace on offense and we got it.”
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THE IMPRESSIVE DAMONE CLARK
LSU's defense has had its share of struggles this year. Many of those can be pinned on injuries, but none of them can be pinned on linebacker Damone Clark, who has continued to impress and make plays all over the field.
Orgeron lauded Clark's performance and leadership, as he has all season, which included a game-high 20 tackles -- two of which came behind the line of scrimmage -- and a sack of QB Matt Corral.
“I think he’s playing like an All-American, I’m so proud of Damone, he’s all over the field making tackles. He’s a tremendous leader. He’s having a fantastic year and we’re very proud of him.”
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