No. 7 Ole Miss looks to remain undefeated on Saturday when it visits Death Valley to take on rival LSU in the “Magnolia Bowl.” This SEC West showdown will serve as a pivot point for both teams as the Rebels sit squarely in the national title race and the Tigers still have hope in the SEC West race.
Ole Miss is coming off of a wild 48-34 win over Auburn last weekend in which it had three rushers top the 100-yard mark and amassed a whopping 448 yards on the ground. The defense, however, didn’t show up in a similar fashion. It gave up 6.78 yards per play and 301 rushing yards to an Auburn team that has struggled to find consistent success on offense all year.
LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels totaled six touchdowns (three passing, three rushing) last week in the 45-35 win over Florida. His 349-yard performance through the air marks the second time in as many weeks that the Arizona State transfer has thrown for 300 or more yards in a game, and his success through the air has provided much-needed balance to the offense.
Let’s breakdown the matchup and make picks straight up and against the spread.
Ole Miss vs. LSU: Need to know
Will the real Ole Miss defense please stand up? The Auburn game was a head-scratcher for those of us who started to believe in the Rebels defense. It was the first time this year that it gave up more than 6 yards per play (6.78). In theory, that’s all that Ole Miss needs to do in order to stay in the College Football Playoff race. After all, if the Rebels can limit big plays, the offense is more than capable of picking up the slack and forcing games into shootouts. What is encouraging, though, is that they had seven tackles for loss and remain the top unit in the SEC in that category (6.71 per game). Last weekend was tough, but it isn’t enough to jump to the conclusion that this Ole Miss defense has reverted back to its sad, depressing form of previous years.
What is the future of the LSU offense? Daniels was money last week vs. Florida, which is another instance of the Tigers potentially evolving into a force. Daniels found star wide receiver Kayshon Boutte six times for 115 yards — the first 100-yard performance of the season for the star wide receiver.
“I think that was the first time this year that our best players stepped up to that level and made plays,” coach Brian Kelly said on Monday.
Note the use of the word “best.” That isn’t an…
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