13th ranked LSU meets up with 20th ranked Ole Miss in a Top 20 matchup in Oxford on Saturday at 5 p.m. Both teams have their weaknesses, and they look at this game as an opportunity to break through.
The Rebels have struggled to run the ball and LSU provides an opportunity for them to get the ground game going. LSU allows 4.37 yards a carry this season and that ranks last in the SEC.
Ole Miss consensus preseason All-American running back Quinshon Judkins has not had a good start to the season. He only has rushed for 201 yards on 57 carries and his longest run for the season is 14 yards. It’s not all on him as the Rebels offensive line has struggled.
"I believe in my offense, I believe in my coaches," Judkins said. "(I'm) just being level-headed with the same poise, not getting frustrated, knowing that it will come. Just keep working and keep grinding, and fix everything that we can to get the run game going, because that's what our offense is based off of."
One of LSU’s biggest weaknesses is getting off the field on third down. It was an issue last year too, something Coach Brian Kelly talked about in the offseason wanting to improve. Instead, the Tigers are allowing their opponents to convert 44% of the time on third down.
But here comes the Rebels who are converting just 35% on third down, which ranks 12th in the SEC. Ole Miss will look to sustain drives and create big plays against a suspect LSU secondary and a team that’s giving up nearly six yards a play.
Kelly said the focus on defense this week is fundamentals.
“We’re talking about fundamentals of alignment, starting there. We’ve had many alignment issues relevant to leverage, assignments and tackling,” Kelly said. “We’re talking about fundamentals that are taught from day one in Pop Warner to college. These kids come in with a number of different techniques, allowed to do a lot of different things. We’re trying to get them to be fundamentally sound and we’re working towards that end.”