By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
BATON ROUGE – If there was a game last season that represented LSU’s season-long defensive woes, it was neatly wrapped in 60 minutes of awful in a 55-49 loss at Ole Miss.
Despite eventual Heisman Trophy-winning QB Jayden Daniels accounting for 513 yards and five TDs, the Tigers blew a 49-40 lead as the Rebels scored twice in the final 5:06.
“When you’re playing an uptempo team like Ole Miss, you’ve got to get (your defense) lined up correctly, you’ve got to get your cleats in the ground and you’ve got to tackle,” LSU head coach Brian Kelly said Monday in previewing Saturday’s rivalry battle between the Tigers (4-1, 1-0 SEC) and the Rebels (5-1, 1-1 SEC). “Last year, we didn’t tackle well, we didn’t get lined up in a number of instances, and we didn’t play fundamentally sound football.”
The Tigers and the Rebels of 2023 mirrored each other. Both teams had high-scoring offenses to offset their porous defenses.
Kelly’s off-season solution for defensive improvement was firing his entire defensive staff, hiring a new one featuring coordinator Blake
Baker, and having the new staff coach up the returning players with just one transfer in the starting lineup.
Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin decided his route for a better defense was to replace one assistant and buy seven new starters (an end, a tackle, two linebackers, a safety, two cornerbacks) including five from other SEC schools out of the transfer portal.
The result is a huge leap of improvement for the Rebels’ defense, which is ranked No. 3 nationally in scoring defense (7.5 points per game allowed) and 12th in total defense (267.5 yards allowed).
LSU is taking baby steps, learning a new defensive system and being hindered by season-ending injuries to starters Jacobian Guillory at tackle and Harold Perkins Jr. The Tigers are 48th in scoring defense (21.6 ppg) and 66th in total defense (353.6 ypg).
Kiffin also purchased five new transfer portal offensive starters, including three offensive linemen, to protect senior returning QB Jaxson Dart. He has the Rebels averaging 44 points (10th nationally) and 576.8 yards (2nd nationally).
“He’s fearless, a tough-minded kid not afraid to have his number called to run when they need a play,” Kelly said of Dart, who ranks third nationally and first in SEC in total offense (376 ypg). “He’s also not afraid of the bright lights. He doesn’t shrink when the moment is big.”
During LSU’s open date last week, Kelly and his staff did a deep dive into the team as it begins its seven SEC games in eight weeks to close the regular season.
“We did an exhaustive self-scout,” Kelly said. “Are there tendencies that you need to break? Who are the guys that have built that trust (with the LSU coaches) that you can put on the field going into these seven weeks of SEC opponents?”
KNOW YOUR ENEMY
No. 13 LSU (4-1, 1-0 SEC) vs. No. 9 Ole Miss (5-1, 1-1 SEC), Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge Saturday, 6:45 p.m. (ABC)
Last game for Ole Miss: Won Saturday at South Carolina 27-3. The Rebels’ defense had six sacks, 10 tackles for loss and forced two turnovers.
Series record and last meeting: LSU leads 65-43-4. Ole Miss won 55-49 in Oxford with teams combining for 1,343 total offense yards and 65 first downs. Tigers QB’ Jayden Daniels had 513 total offense yards and 5 TDs while Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart had 439 total offensive yards and 5 TDs.
Ole Miss head coach: Lane Kiffin (100-50 overall in 13 seasons, 39-16 in fifth year at Ole Miss).
THIS AND THAT
Early betting line: Ole Miss is a 2½-point favorite
Number of Louisiana natives on Ole Miss roster: 11
Number of Mississippi natives on LSU roster: 1
Number of transfers on Ole Miss roster from 4-year schools: 41 players from 35 schools including 26 players from 20 Power 4 Conference schools
OLE MISS PLAYERS TO WATCH
QB Jaxson Dart (127 of 173 for 2,100 passing yards, 13 touchdowns, 2 interceptions, 158 rushing yards, 3 TDs on 44 carries), RB Henry Parrish Jr. (570 rushing yards, 9 TDs TDs on 91 carries, WR Tre Harris (52 catches for 885 yards, 5 TDs), OLB Chris Paul (41 tackles, 7 TFL 2½ sacks, 2 PBU, 7 QB hurries, DT Walter Nolen 24 tackles, 6 TFL, 2½ sacks, 1 PBU, 2 QB hurries, PK Caden Davis (9 for 11 FG, 33 of 34 PATs), P Fraser Masin (13 for 44.7 yards per punt, 7 fair catches, 6 inside the 20, 5 50-yards plus)
THREE AND OUT
- Ole Miss has had 16 head football coaches since joining the SEC in 1932 as an original member. How many of those coaches had previous head coaching experience when hired by the school?
- 10
- 7
- 5
- 12
- Ole Miss’ legend Johnny Vaught was the first SEC coach to. . .
- Wear a suit on the sideline
- Have a fedora contract
- Win the SEC championship in his first year as head coach
- Dislike LSU head coach Paul Dietzel
- When was the last time Ole Miss played in the SEC championship game?
- 2001
- 2010
- 1998
- Never