Post-Mortem: Ole Miss 55, LSU 49

Words don’t do justice describing last night’s 55-49 loss to Ole Miss, but numbers might so which one do you want to focus on?

706 the number of yards LSU surrendered to Ole Miss? That’s the worst in LSU history by the way. What about 389/317 the passing and rushing yards given up? How about 11-19 which is Ole Miss’s combined conversions on third and fourth downs? Personally I think my favorite number is 49 as in the number of points LSU scored, on the road against a ranked opponent no less, and lost.

In a touching tribute to the 2013 Tigers, LSU is fielding both a better offense than the high flying one we saw from Mett-Odell-Jarvis-Hill and an even worse defense. I never thought we would see a worse defense than the infamous 2020 team, but this year’s crew is giving them a run for their money.

Matt House’s name is being floated for the Michigan State job. They can have him. I’ll help him pack and drive him to East Lansing if need be. I’m not the Xs and Os guy that Max is, but I’m not sure there’s any fixing the defense. LSU’s front, the supposed strength of the defense, got zero sacks on Jaxson Dart. Without even the slightest hint of a pass rush, Dart picked apart a totally hapless LSU secondary to the tune of 26-39 for 389 yards, and four touchdowns. Please note the lack of white jerseys in the frame on this particular touchdown pass as that was a theme of the night.

Of course, Ole Miss didn’t only need to throw the ball to go up and down the field because they were just as effective on the ground. As a team, the Rebs ran the ball at will (49 carries, 317 yards) and Quinshon Judkins had 177 by himself.

To me the most offensive part of last night’s loss was that the defense wasted an epic performance by the offense. Jayden Daniels threw for 414 yards and ran for 99; Logan Diggs had 101 on the ground; and both Brian Thomas Jr. and Malik Nabers went over 100 yards receiving. LSU scored 49 points and racked up 637 yards of offense and it all counts for nothing. Sure there were a handful of miscues by the offense like a key fourth quarter drop on first down by Kaleb Jackson, or Chris Hilton diving for a ball on the opening possession, but pointing out the few things the offense messed up while the defense gave up 700 yards of offense is a bit short-sighted.

At 3-2 and 2-1 in the SEC LSU’s postseason hopes are pretty much dashed. The Tigers can still get to Atlanta, and who knows maybe they will. But I can’t see that happening because unless the LSU offense plays perfect from here on out, the defense will not be able to bail them out.