The top two scoring offenses in the Southeastern Conference will meet on Saturday at 5 p.m. in Oxford as 13th ranked LSU visits 20th ranked Ole Miss. The oddsmakers are expecting a high scoring affair as the over/under is 67. The oddsmakers are also expecting a close game as LSU is a 2.5 point favorite.
Ole Miss is scoring a bunch of points, but star running back, Quinshon Judkins, is not having a good season. The 2022 SEC Freshman of the year has rushed for 201 yards in four games after rushing for 1,567 yards and 16 touchdowns last season.
Quarterback Jaxson Dart is the Rebels leading rusher with 219 yards on the ground. And Dart is having a good season throwing the football, averaging 274 passing yards a game, completing 63% of his passes, also seven touchdowns and two interceptions.
Ole Miss has been feasting on the big plays, 29 for 20-plus yards, which is one of the highest totals in the country. They’ve been able to do that despite some injuries at the receiver position.
But Biletnikoff Award watch list member Zakhari Franklin and star wide out Tre Harris are close to full health. Franklin is the FBS active career leader in receptions with 263. He played his first game of the season last week.
Harris is from Lafayette, played at Comeaux High School and transferred to Ole Miss, after three seasons at Louisiana Tech. Harris has eight catches, but five of them went for touchdowns. Four TDs in the season opener against Mercer.
Ole Miss’ offensive line has struggled which partly explains why Judkins has struggled. Even Tulane pushed them around for more than a half in their game at Yulman Stadium.
The Rebels have a first-year defensive coordinator in Pete Golding. He spent the last five seasons as Alabama’s DC, helping the Crimson Tide win a national title in 2020.
Ole Miss has been opportunistic on defense, they’ve forced six turnovers and they have 14 sacks, which is second in the SEC. The Rebels have notched at least six tackles for a loss in each of their four games.
They also have a Perkins. Freshman Suntarine Perkins was the number two linebacker in the country coming out of high school, and he’s been a big factor this season. He has a team-leading three sacks and 18 tackles.
The weakness of the Ole Miss defense is in the secondary, like LSU they have a lot of guys out of the transfer portal who are playing. They are about where LSU is for passing yards allowed at 227.