The LSU Football team was looking to carry momentum into Oxford, and for one quarter looked like the Tigers had done just that. But a failed 4th down conversion attempt unraveled the Tigers, and it was only downhill from there.
The LSU offense gained just 24 yards in the 2nd quarter. The Rebels took hold of the momentum and never looked back. But it wasn’t just the offense that struggled the rest of the way. LSU’s defense held Ole Miss scoreless through the first 15 minutes, then allowed 31 straight points.
Ole Miss QB Matt Corral’s impact was limited, but the running game went wild against a less-than-stout LSU front. Hotty Toddy finished the game with 266 yards on the ground including big play after big play, especially when it came to long 3rd downs.
Backup QB Garrett Nussmeier threw the lone passing touchdown for the Tigers. His performance will likely add a QB debate in Baton Rouge to go along with the coaching search.
We’ll look at the slightly good, very bad and overall ugly performance the Tigers put together in Oxford on Saturday.
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THE GOOD: Garrett Nussmeier
The backup QB gave LSU a spark in the final quarter. After combining for just 49 yards passing in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, Max Johnson was sat down the rest of the way.
Nussmeier led a drive for a field goal, then connected with Malik Nabers on a touchdown that made the final score look a bit more respectable than the overall game showed. He finished 7-of-12 for 103 yards and looked like a more confident passer than Johnson had throughout the day.
Another big day for Bech
One of the other highlights, of which there were few, was yet another impressive performance from tight end Jack Bech. The freshman able to get open early in the ballgame and make some plays, finishing with 4 catches for 41 yards.
The Tigers are without their leading receiver in Kayshon Boutte, so those opportunities in the passing game have trickled down to others. Look at No. 80 to continue to make plays the rest of the way, regardless of who’s under center for the Tigers.
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THE BAD: LSU’s defense
For one quarter it was looking like the undermanned Tigers could give Lane Kiffin’s offense trouble when it came to moving the football. But when the Rebels shifted to a ground-and-pound version of their up-tempo offense, the Tigers responded by failing to tackle — something that got progressively worse as the game wore on.
Snoop Conner finished with 117 yards rushing, while his counterpart, Jerrion Ealy, rolled up 97 yards and a touchdown of his own. Ole Miss even managed to convert for first down runs on snaps from 3rd-and-12 and 3rd-and-19, the type of play-call that typically signals an offense getting what it can before punting it away. Injuries to Glen Logan and Micah Baskerville didn’t help the Tigers’ cause in that regard.
In the end it was essentially a repeat of what happened in the 2nd half against UCLA to open the season. The Tigers couldn’t make stops in prime opportunities and were pushed around in the trenches.
Linebacker Damone Clark was an exception along the Tigers’ defensive group, showing up all over the field with big plays. Clark finished the game with 20 tackles and seemed to be the only player on the defense that was always near the football. His play this season is going to earn him some money when he gets drafted to the NFL.
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THE UGLY: Max Johnson and Co.
The Tigers moved the ball well on the ground for impressive drives on their first two possessions. But Ole Miss made adjustments, and the Tigers offense got stuck in neutral the rest of the way with Johnson under center. The sophomore QB didn’t help the cause with two sack-fumbles, both of which were recovered by Ole Miss.
Johnson held on to the football a bit too long, trying to make plays with the little time his offensive line was giving him. It was possibly LSU’s ugliest offensive game in a season with more than its share of rough performances.
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The good news? LSU gets an extra week to get mistakes cleaned up and return back to health — as much as possible. The bad news? Their reward after that time off is a date with Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
While the performance was ugly on Saturday, the Crimson Tide can make it a lot uglier, and fast. The Tigers need two more wins to become bowl eligible and they’ll be heavy favorites to earn one in a matchup with UL-Monroe.
But can they find the other in that Alabama matchup, or in a regular-season finale against a Texas A&M team that upset Alabama a few weeks ago? If the Tigers play like they did in Oxford, it’s hard to imagine.