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Ole Miss football: Penalties, LSU pass rush derail Rebels’ undefeated season
By Crissy Froyd
Published:
The reign of Ole Miss over the SEC West has come to a close, as the team’s previously untarnished record has the blemish of Saturday’s 45-20 road loss to LSU reflected on it.
While LSU has been a sporadic team that has displayed inconsistency on both sides of the ball this season and has certainly had some down moments, it’s been a solid past couple of games for the Tigers (6-2, 4-1 SEC) as they ride a 2-game winning streak after the previous week’s 45-35 win at Florida. LSU also moved back into the rankings at No. 18 in Sunday’s new AP poll.
Some of that success has come down not only to a progressing Jayden Daniels, who has begun to demand more respect as a passer, but also a high-level pass rush that gave Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart the blues, never fully allowing him to settle in at any time in the game.
There have been times when Dart has had some decision-making issues this season, as he continues to work through some growing pains while also flashing some strong moments at times (how about that 448-yard passing performance against Vanderbilt 2 weeks ago). Dart and the passing attack were able to get little going on Saturday though, as he completed 19-of-34 passes for 284 yards without a single passing touchdown and 1 interception. Usually in these types of situations when Dart doesn’t have a standout stat line from a passing perspective, he produces on the ground.
That has shown up in games like last Saturday’s 48-34 win over Auburn in which he rushed for 115 yards on 14 carries. But that wasn’t the case this time, as LSU’s defenders had full charge of flying around the backfield. There were some bright moments through the air, as wide receiver Malik Heath, who later suffered an injury, hit the century mark again this season as he reeled in 8 passes for 145 yards.
Dart averaged less than 1 yard per rushing attempt, carrying the ball 10 times for 6 yards.
Much of the success Ole Miss (7-1, 3-1) had offensively in general and in the passing game was limited within a short time frame, as the Rebels got out to a 2-score lead on its first 3 offensive drives. Dart was money before the LSU heat got to him, completing 9 of his first 10 passes before struggling some the rest of the way.
“(LSU has) got really good rushers. They usually always do,” said Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin, whose team fell 8 spots to No. 15 in the new AP poll. “You’re going to have a lot of issues on the road in this place (Tiger Stadium) and two freshman tackles and freshman running backs. We’re going to do better.”
Quinshon Judkins, who has the potential to finish the season as the top running back in the SEC, did have another solid day powering the run game, as he carried 25 times for 111 yards and 2 touchdowns. While Ole Miss finished its previous game with 3 rushers crossing 100 yards, it was a different story without Zach Evans as Dart’s meager total of 6 yards on the ground was the slot below on the list of leading rushers.
Ole Miss also continued to show issues on defense, with tackling issues and allowing too many explosive plays. After all, there is a reason Kiffin mentioned tackling in particular for the 3rd consecutive game in his postgame press conference.
Daniels certainly didn’t take any issue with the Ole Miss defense, completing 21-of-28 passes for 248 yards with 2 touchdowns, and he also carried the ball 23 times for 121 yards and 3 touchdowns. Kiffin complained after the Auburn game that Ole Miss didn’t have a run defense “within 8 miles of here” and that showed in how successful Daniels himself was on the ground and that running back Josh Williams flirted with the century mark, recording 76 rushing yards.
“Missed tackles,” Kiffin said. “We got pushed around. Had some injuries up there during the game … obviously doesn’t help. We didn’t do a lot right defensively.”
Outside of the pressure that affected the offense and the defensive shortcomings, the Rebels also hurt themselves. Penalties have been an issue for Ole Miss in some games this season and affected the outcome in this one, as they racked up 10 penalties for 111 yards.
It wasn’t long ago that many were talking about Ole Miss as a potential national championship contender, and it didn’t seem at all far-fetched. But it’s clear that if the Rebels are going to have even the slightest shot of making it into the postseason dance, there’s plenty of work to do and the defense is a long way from being one that can contend in that type of competition.
The Rebels will try to get back in the win column this Saturday night at Texas A&M.
Crissy covers SEC football news for Saturday Down South.
