For the first time since the legendary Billy Cannon Halloween night run in 1959, the LSU Tigers and the Ole Miss Rebels play each other as undefeated teams with both coming in with 4-0 records. This matchup that will be played in Oxford is one of the top games in the college football slate this week with the Tigers being ranked as the number four team in the country and the Rebels being ranked as the number 13 team in the country.
LSU leads the all-time series 66-43-4. The last two matchups have been won by the home team with LSU winning an all-time 29-26 classic in overtime and the year before, Ole Miss outlasted LSU in a 55-49 shootout. A win for the coveted Magnolia Bowl Trophy for either team can legitimately put the victorious team really into the College Football Playoff picture. There are a lot of interesting angles and matchups to look at both teams so let’s take a look into what are going to be some of the biggest points of interest to look at throughout this one.
Lane Kiffin vs. Blake Baker:
With all of the talent on the field, there is just as much talent with the coaching minds in this game with one of the best offensive minds in the country in Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin going up against one of the rising defensive coaching stars in college football in LSU’s Blake Baker.
“Lane does a great job adapting to what’s going on in the game itself. I think, more than anything else, you can plan for things to happen, but then you have to be able to prepare for what’s the next step, and he’s obviously very experienced at what he does. During the game, he can adjust as he sees that he needs to.”
LSU HC Brian Kelly on Lane Kiffin
This is going to be each other’s biggest test to this point. The Ole Miss offense is No. 9 in the country in total offense (543 yards per game) and No. 12 in scoring (44.8) while the LSU defense is number seven in the country in points given up per game (9.0) and top 15 in yards given up per game (260.3).
“I think we’re at that point that we know each other very well. I mean, this is the fourth time we’ve played against each other. Blake’s done it when he was at Missouri too. So, there’s no tricks really. It’s not like, oh, I never saw that coming.”
LSU HC Brian Kelly on Blake Baker vs. Lane Kiffin
How Baker utilizes his star linebackers Harold Perkins Jr. and Whit Weeks will be interesting compared to how Kiffin will use tempo with his offense in this game as well.
“Their tempo is the best in the league, so you have to get lined up, and in some instances, it keeps you from doing too much. You got to get your cleats in the ground. You’ve got to be fundamentally sound.”
LSU HC Brian Kelly on Ole Miss’ tempo
With two of the best in the game going at it, it should be a fun matchup to watch for the diehard football fans.
Trinidad Chambliss vs. LSU’s Defense
It was announced earlier this week that Trinidad Chambliss would be the starter for Saturday’s game. Since coming into the game against Kentucky, Chambliss has taken over the starting reigns from Austin Simmons, who entered the season as the starting quarterback, but has been dealing with an ankle injury.
Chambliss has become one of the best stories at this point in the college football season. Coming to Ole Miss after winning a Division II National Championship at Ferris State, Chambliss has played at a high level through two games in wins against Arkansas and Tulane as he has completed 42 of 62 passes for 719 yards and four touchdowns while rushing for 195 yards and two more touchdowns on the ground. Chambliss has been the hot hand, but that does not necessarily mean that Simmons won’t see the field. Knowing that Lane Kiffin always has a trick up his sleeve, Brian Kelly is preparing for both quarterbacks, but Kelly says that both Ole Miss quarterbacks have similar skillsets to prepare for.
“In some instances, it’d be like Texas A&M last year. Those are two different quarterbacks; one was a pro-style quarterback and one was certainly a dual threat that could run zone reads, do things of that nature, and it changes you dramatically. This week, both these quarterbacks are similar. Now, they have different skill sets, but they can run the same offense with both of these players so I’m not saying it’s easier. It’s hard. You’ve got two really good players, but it’s not as if one is a pro-style quarterback and is not going to run, and the other one is simply a dual threat. They’re both very similar.”
LSU HC Brian Kelly
This is going to be a step up in competition for Chambliss as he will face off against the hottest defense in the country through four games. Lane Kiffin talked earlier this week how LSU’s investment on that side of the football has paid off.
“Well, I think second year in a system defensively helps a lot of times and they’ve improved their personnel also. You got three of the four starting D-linemen are portal guys. Three of the four secondary D-line are portal guys. So, they’ve done a great job with that.”
“They’ve heavily invested financially into the portal and made that decision. That’s no secret. Coach Kelly’s talked about how much money they’ve spent, and it shows. Those are three guys that were heavily recruited and probably the three most expensive portal DBs in the market, and they got them all. So, they did a great job with that. Now they’re coaching them really well, and they’re playing great.”
Ole Miss HC Lane Kiffin
There is one veteran on the Tigers’ defense that Kiffin also spotlighted and that is Harold Perkins Jr., who had his first breakout game in the second half of a 45-20 win over the Rebels during his freshman year in 2022.
“He isn’t like anyone else out there. I thought he’d be a first round draft pick in the NFL by now. They’re back actually kind of full circle. He did great in our game in 2022 and impacted our game and is coming back in the same role.”
Ole Miss HC Lane Kiffin on Harold Perkins
While Kiffin certainly has nightmares of Perkins wrecking his game plan two years ago, the same can be said for LSU’s defense as the last time they made the trip to Oxford, the defense gave up over 700 yards and 55 points. Now, the Tigers’ defense has obviously come a long way with the hire of Blake Baker and the influx of talent coming in so Kelly is a lot more confident in his defense performing at a higher level.
“You feel better about those games because you’re taking a defense that can stand up against the environment going on the road and all those things and we’re a much more cohesive group. The roster’s better. The players are better. Those were good, tough kids that played hard for us, but we were a little short in some areas. I don’t know about all the points, but we got to score like we talked about last week. We can’t be scoring a touchdown or ten points. That’s not going to cut it in the SEC so, continue to play at the level that we have defensively and then bring your offense up to the level that it needs to be to win games in the SEC.”
LSU HC Brian Kelly
LSU’s Passing Game Looks To Build On Momentum From Southeastern:
The LSU passing game was not hitting on all cylinders the first three games of the season as the offense could not score more than 23 points the first three contests. It was later revealed heading into last week that Garrett Nussmeier was dealing with a torso injury before the Clemson game and was on the backend of the injury heading into Southeastern.
When asked if Kelly would play, he answered that Nussmeier needed to play because he was towards fully recovering from it. Nussmeier certainly looked healthy against the Lions completing 25 of 31 passes for 273 yards and three touchdowns. After some struggles, this is the perfect opportunity for the Tigers’ offense to show their potential on the road against Ole Miss in what feels like a prove it game for that side of the ball.
“It’s kind of going back to what I said earlier is that I want our teams not to be so scripted. I thought we got a little scripted offensively to the point where it was so planned out and then the game starts and then you got to adapt and adjust. So I think as you talk about the offensive structure, I think it’s continually find ways to run the ball and have a running game and then let Garrett Nussmeier do what he does, and he loves to throw the ball down the field.”
“I think being a little bit more aggressive on fourth down. We had the three fourth down situations; from my perspective, and taking to our players, they just felt better about how we attack things, and we’ll have to continue to do that moving forward.”
LSU HC Brian Kelly
Something Has To Give Between LSU’s Rushing Game and Ole Miss’ Rushing Defense:
While the game is a matchup of two strengths in Ole Miss’ high potent offense and LSU’s stingy defense, it also may come down to the battle of weaknesses between a LSU rushing attack that has struggled to say the least this year against an Ole Miss rushing defense that has struggled to stop anybody on the ground.
LSU’s rushing game ranks 98th in the country averaging 116 yards per game and just 3.74 yards per carry while the Ole Miss rushing defense ranks dead last in the SEC by giving up 190 yards per game.
What makes this even more interesting is that there is a huge question mark regarding the health of LSU’s starting running back Caden Durham, who is heading into Saturday as questionable with an ankle injury.
“Time. It’s really a matter of time. He’s been better each day, but we’ve gotta take it right up to Saturday before we make a decision. He wants to play so we told him the only way this is gonna work is if we give you the whole week and right up to game time.”
LSU HC Brian Kelly on Caden Durham
If Durham isn’t able to go, LSU will lean on the running back trio of Ju’Juan Johnson, Kaleb Jackson, and Harlem Berry. Johnson has been the back that has emerged to be that next option after rushing for two touchdowns against Southeastern, but Kelly believes that this is going to be a group effort if Durham is not ready.
“All three of them are a little bit different. Ju’Juan gives us a guy who is dynamic, sees the field, can catch it. Harlem has home run ability in terms of hitting it. Then Kaleb has been really good. He had. a solid week last week. Physicality, size, blocking, pass pro. If Caden can’t answer the bell, it’d be a combination of all three.”
LSU HC Brian Kelly on running back rotation if Caden can’t play.
Score Prediction: LSU 27, Ole Miss 17
This is going to be a toss up, but I am going to lean with LSU. It’s a tough task for a quarterback in Tinidad Chambliss, who is making his third career start as a SEC quarterback against a defense of this caliber. This is also going to be a big opportunity for the passing game to take another step in the right direction while just getting enough of their running game in order to get a big victory on the road.
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