Ain’t That A Shame! The Defense is the One to Blame as Incredible Offensive Performance Gets Overshadowed in 55-49 Loss to Ole Miss

LSU’s offense scored 49 points and had 637 total yards of offense. However, like the Cheap Trick song, “Ain’t That a Shame”, the defense was the one to blame as that side of the ball gave up 706 yards and 55 points in a 55-49 loss.

LSU’s defense surrendered, but unlike the Cheap Trick lyrics in another one of their songs “Surrender”, they did give themselves away.

Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart was on the better end of this quarterback showdown as he completed 26 of 39 passes for 389 yards and four touchdowns. The Rebels had big showings from Quinshon Judkins, who finally had his breakthrough game of the season after a slow start to the year as he finished with 177 yards rushing and a touchdown to also go along with a touchdown reception, and Tre Harris, who finished with 8 catches for 153 yards and a touchdown.

The Rebels scored the go-ahead touchdown to go up 55-49 with 40 seconds left as Dart threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Harris. LSU had one final chance and even drove the ball inside the Rebels’ 20-yard line, but the pass fell incomplete thus ending an incredible offensive track meet. Ole Miss rallied to score 15 unanswered points to come from behind and get the win.

“That’s not the way I like to play football. Hats off to Ole Miss. They made a couple of plays at the end that they needed to and deserved to win.”

LSU HC Brian Kelly on Ole Miss loss

It was a historically bad night for the defense and it overshadows what would have been one of the best offensive performances in LSU history.

Jayden Daniels had one of his best nights as a Tiger completing 27 of 36 passes for 414 yards and 4 touchdowns while also rushing for 99 yards and a fifth touchdown. What was also overshadowed was a great receiving performance by Brian Thomas Jr. The Walker, Louisiana native had eight catches for 124 yards and three touchdowns. Malik Nabers also had over 100 yards on eight catches as well.

Not only the Tigers’ passing game was great, but the running game was equally as good with Logan Diggs rushing for over 100 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

Despite the big offensive numbers, it was not enough as the LSU defense could not get off the field in critical situations including on third and fourth down.

“That’s not a standard of play that’s acceptable. I expect the guys to respond the right way. They’ve got a lot of pride. They play for LSU. They know that’s not the standard. I expect them to come back Monday ready to make sure they address, and we as coaches address the things we need to do better.”

LSU HC Brian Kelly on not playing to the LSU standard

It was the type of game that offensive coaches love, but certainly defensive coaches hate as over 1,343 yards of offense were accounted for. That was the fifth most combined yards in a game in the history of the SEC Unfortunately, an all-time LSU offensive performance will be overlooked and overshadowed because of an all-time bad defensive outing in the 2023 Magnolia Bowl.

Ain’t That a Shame!

LSU falls to 3-2 and 1-1 in the SEC while Ole Miss improves to 4-1 and 1-1 in the SEC. The Tigers will go on the road to take on undefeated Missouri next week.

Game Recap:

1st Quarter:

2nd Quarter:

3rd Quarter:

Final Stats:

Offensive Cumulative Stats:

STATLSUOle Miss
NET TOTAL YARDS637706
NET RUSHING YARDS223317
Rushing Attempts3749
Average Per Rush6.06.5
Rushing TDs33
Yards Gained242324
Yards Lost197
NET PASSING YARDS414389
Completion-Attempts27-3826-39
Completion Percentage71%67%
Avg Per Completion15.315.0
YAC176234
Passing TDs44
Drops (%)2 (05%)1 (03%)
TOTAL 1ST DOWNS3332
Rushing 1st Downs1016
Passing 1st Downs2016
Penalty 1st Downs30
TOTAL PLAYS7588
Avg Yds/Play8.58
Rushing-Passing37-3849-39

Offense Efficiency Comparison:

STATLSUOle Miss
RED ZONE ATTEMPTS5-56-6
Red Zone Points3538
RZ TDs Rush-Pass3-22-3
RZ FG Made-Att0-01-1
RZ Turns00
3rd Downs5-99-16
4th Downs0-02-3
Penalties6-3511-121
Fumbles-Lost1-10-0
Pts Off Turns07
POSSESSION TIME29:1730:43

Special Teams Comparison:

STATLSUOle Miss
Punts-Avg3-43.32-41.5
Inside2010
Field Goals0-12-2
Kick Returns2-332-18
Punt Returns0-01-3

LSU Passing:

#PLAYERC-AYDSTDIC%RTG
5DANIELS,J27-364144075208.3
PASS TOTALS27-384144071

LSU Receiving:

#PLAYERNOYDSTDLNGAVGTGTC%YACDR
11THOMAS JR.,B812433415.51080110
8NABERS,M810203912.88100440
86TAYLOR,M56102212.25100290
2LACY,K25112925.5450181
3DIGGS,L22201411367200
17HILTON JR.,C14204242425370
4EMERY JR.,J112012121100170
28JACKSON,K000001001
7 RECEIVERS2741444215.336751762

LSU Rushing:

#PLAYERATTYDSTDLNGAVG
3DIGGS,L191012135.3
5DANIELS,J15991556.6
4EMERY JR.,J3230147.7
3 RUSHERS372233556

LSU Punting:

PunterNOYDSAVGLNGI2050+
BRAMBLETT,J313043.34910

LSU Field Goals:

KickerTimeDistResult
D.Ramos2nd-00:0056MISSED
TOTAL0-1LONG OF 0

LSU All Purpose Yards:

PlayerTotRushRecKORPRIR-FRTDs
THOMAS JR.,B12401240003
DIGGS,L123101220002
NABERS,M10201020000

LSU Defense:

#Player (Starter)TotTkSoloSackTFLIntBrUpQBHFF
14A.Sam (S)149000000
8M.Burns (DB)114000100
30G.Penn III (LB)105000000
4H.Perkins Jr. (LB)94010000
40W.Weeks9201.50020
15S.Ryan (DB)74020000
26A.Stamps (DB)64000000
1O.Speights (LB)41000000
5L.Welch4100.50100
2O.Oghoufo31000000
18M.Wingo (DT)31000000
35S.Jones (DE)32000010
0M.Smith (DE)2000.50000
24Z.Alexander (CB)22000200
90J.Guillory20000010
10D.Harris10000100
34R.Robinson Jr.10000000
52P.Malbrue10000000
94P.Shand1000.50000
99J.Jefferson10000000
21R.Yaites00000100
TOTALS9440060640

LSU Punt Returns:

ReturnerNOYDSAVGLNGTD

LSU Kick Returns:

ReturnerNOYDSAVGLNGTD
JACKSON,K23317180

LSU Team Stats By Quarter:

1stRushPassCAITotYAvg3rdsPens
1st711-598-695-8-01286.71-30-0
2nd119-8013-16510-13-024511.11-10-0
3rd1010-777-587-7-01357.92-22-10
4th57-710-1225-10-01297.61-34-25
Total3337-22338-41427-38-06378.55-96-35

LSU Scoring Summary:

QtrClockScoreTypePlayDriveScore
101:25TDPASSB.Thomas Jr. 20 yd reception thrown by J.Daniels (PAT KICK by D.Ramos GOOD)6/75/2:3514-7
212:46TDRUSHL.Diggs 1 yd rush (PAT KICK by D.Ramos GOOD)6/78/2:2121-14
204:30TDPASSB.Thomas Jr. 11 yd reception thrown by J.Daniels (PAT KICK by D.Ramos GOOD)7/75/3:4028-21
200:58TDPASSK.Lacy 29 yd reception thrown by J.Daniels (PAT KICK by D.Ramos GOOD)5/75/0:4431-28
311:30TDRUSHJ.Daniels 1 yd rush (PAT KICK by D.Ramos GOOD)8/85/3:2531-35
303:41TDRUSHL.Diggs 12 yd rush (PAT KICK by D.Ramos GOOD)9/75/4:3934-42
408:34TDPASSB.Thomas Jr. 34 yd reception thrown by J.Daniels (PAT KICK by D.Ramos GOOD)4/55/1:5340-49

Ole Miss Passing:

#PLAYERC-AYDSTDIC%RTG
2DART,J26-393894067184.3

Ole Miss Receiving

#PLAYERNOYDSTDLNGAVGTGTC%YACDR
9HARRIS,T815315619.11457961
19WADE,D7641159.11070560
11WATKINS,J510316320.6771490
86PRIESKORN,C34101613.7475150
24BENTLEY IV,U11701717250190
5FRANKLIN,Z170771100-10
4JUDKINS,Q14144110000
7 RECEIVERS263894631539672341

Ole Miss Rushing:

#PLAYERATTYDSTDLNGAVG
4JUDKINS,Q331771375.4
24BENTLEY IV,U99014310
2DART,J7501277.1
3 RUSHERS493173436.5

Ole Miss Punting:

PunterNOYDSAVGLNGI2050+
MASIN,F28341.54200

Ole Miss Field Goals:

KickerTimeDistResult
C.Davis2nd-01:4228GOOD
C.Davis3rd-08:2048GOOD
TOTAL2-2LONG OF 48

Ole Miss All Purpose Yards:

PlayerTotRushRecKORPRIR-FRTDs
JUDKINS,Q18117740002
HARRIS,T15301530001
BENTLEY IV,U125901718001

Ole Miss Defense:

#Player (Starter)TotTkSoloSackTFLIntBrUpQBHFF
5J.Saunders Jr. (S)84000000
25T.Washington (S)72000000
3D.Anthony (S)64010101
2C.Johnson (DE)50000020
36A.Cistrunk54220000
11J.Jean-Baptiste (LB)43000100
23K.Coleman (LB)44110000
89J.Pegues (DT)42000110
99I.Ukwu43000000
1I.Young31000000
6Z.Walton (CB)32000000
8M.Montgomery31000000
14D.Williams32000000
4S.Perkins20000000
7D.Prince (CB)22000000
9D.Gaddie Jr.21000200
13L.Tennison21000000
15J.Ivey (DE)20000000
51Z.Harris (DT)20000000
95A.Stone21000010
0J.Harris10000000
97J.Gordon10000000
TOTALS7537340541

Ole Miss Punt Returns:

ReturnerNOYDSAVGLNGTD
WATKINS,J130330

Ole Miss Kick Returns:

ReturnerNOYDSAVGLNGTD
BENTLEY IV,U11818180
TENNISON,L100000
TOTAL21809180

Ole Miss Team Stats By Quarter:

1stRushPassCAITotYAvg3rdsPens
1st912-9812-13410-12-02329.72-41-6
2nd58-4711-1087-11-01558.24-62-15
3rd713-855-282-5-01136.32-44-50
4th1116-8711-1197-11-02067.61-24-50
Total3249-31739-38926-39-070689-1611-121

Ole Miss Scoring Summary:

QtrClockScoreTypePlayDriveScore
110:25TDPASSQ.Judkins 4 yd reception thrown by J.Dart (PAT KICK by C.Davis GOOD)14/75/4:357-0
104:00TDRUSHU.Bentley IV 43 yd rush (PAT KICK by C.Davis GOOD)3/71/0:4414-0
100:12TDPASSJ.Watkins 63 yd reception thrown by J.Dart (PAT KICK by C.Davis GOOD)4/75/1:1321-7
208:10TDPASSD.Wade 15 yd reception thrown by J.Dart (PAT KICK by C.Davis GOOD)10/78/4:3128-14
201:42FGC.Davis 28 yd Field Goal7/65/2:4831-21
308:20FGC.Davis 48 yd Field Goal9/45/3:1034-35
414:13TDRUSHQ.Judkins 11 yd rush (PAT PASS to J.Dart FAILED)13/75/4:2840-42
405:06TDRUSHJ.Dart 1 yd rush (PAT KICK by C.Davis GOOD)10/65/3:1847-49
400:39TDPASST.Harris 13 yd reception thrown by J.Dart (PAT RUSH by Q.Judkins GOOD)8/88/1:5755-49