OXFORD, Miss. – There was a trace of solace for LSU here late Saturday while the overjoyed Ole Miss base fan base celebrated deep into the night like it won a national championship.
Because history indicates – with no wire services, coaches or playoff national championship hardware in the Ole Miss trophy case – an almost-blown 32-24 Rebels’ win on then-8th ranked Fighting Land Sharks home field against Lane Kiffin in just his third game guiding the then-7th ranked Tigers might be as good as it gets for the Rebels.
After a 9½ months of butthurt feelings by the Ole Miss faithful since their then-sixth year head coach Kiffin left the program last Nov. 30 to fill the LSU vacancy, he stepped back into his former home stadium into a volatile atmosphere he described as “a storm.”
Ole Miss’ Trinidad Chambliss, a monster sixth-year QB Kiffin created after plucking him from Division 2 anonymity last summer, explained the satisfaction of beating LSU was emotionally deeper than just Kiffin’s return.
“I feel like you know the whole nation just kind of like disrespects Ole Miss,” said Chambliss, who accounted for 385 of the Rebels’ 426 yards and three scores including a game-winning TD run. “And when they compare LSU to Ole Miss, they always say LSU has more money, the nicer facilities, bigger fan base, bigger stadium.”
Well, true.
True.
True.
And true.
Plus, four legitimate national titles won by the Tigers in 1958, 2003, 2007 and 2019.
But even marching into the venom-filled Kiffin hate fest (which included classless but expected social media attacks on Kiffin’s daughter who’s an Ole Miss student) and despite the undeniable brilliance of Chambliss, LSU still nearly came back for the win.
“We let this one get away,” Kiffin lamented, “because I feel like we came back, had momentum. . .but at the end we didn’t finish.”
Consider LSU, facing a 24-7 halftime deficit, scored 17 straight second-half points and tied the game at 24-24 early in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter on Scott Starzyk’s 23-yard field goal.
In the first half, the Rebels outgained the Tigers 288 to 117 in total offense yardage as Chambliss threw for 248 yards and two touchdowns.
“It just shows how important starting fast is,” said LSU safety and Boise State transfer Ty Benefield of the Tigers’ defense slow-as-molasses start.
In the second half, LSU held a 213 to 137 advantage in total offense yards. Chambliss passed for a mere 137 yards. But 62 came on the Rebels’ game-winning drive when he sprinted untouched 14 yards for the TD with 6:14 left and then twice drew LSU’s defense offsides on an eventually successful two-point conversion attempt by running back and LSU transfer J.T. Lindsay.
There were obvious explanations of the tale of contrasting halves.
Kiffin’s practically fanboy respect for Chambliss and Ole Miss running back Kewan Lacy advanced from cautious to outright fear that apparently influenced LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker’s game plan.
Kiffin praised Chambliss and Lacy almost daily in the past week (“two Heisman candidates . . .both have phenomenal feet. . .Trinidad extends plays, Kewan makes guys miss.)”
Such an overdose of respect removed just about all of LSU’s first-half blitzes and aggressiveness that Baker dialed up in the Tigers’ first two wins over Clemson and Louisiana Tech.
Combine that with the LSU’s defensive backs giving way too much cushion to Rebels’ receivers and it was a recipe for a first-half disaster.
Enroute to Ole Miss establishing a 17-point halftime lead, Chambliss completed 8-of-8 third-down passes for 117 yards and eight first downs including two TDs. Lacy had 36 rushing yards and TD on six carries.
“We were pretty conservative on him (Chambliss) early,” Kiffin said of the Tigers’ first-half defensive strategy, “trying to keep it in front of us, trying to give him some softer looks. We did a really good job but guys made plays for him in the receiving game.”
Almost immediately in the second half, LSU’s defense began blitzing and reaped immediate benefits.
Pressure from a fast-closing Benefield forced Chambliss to throw an interception to LSU’s JaKeem Jackson on the Rebels’ third play of the second half.
The Tigers cashed in the turnover with a 4-yard QB Sam Leavitt TD keeper to cut the Rebels’ lead to 24-14.
Lacy hurt his shoulder with 7:09 left in the third quarter and never returned to action. Chambliss was left to carry the load. He came up empty in Ole Miss’ next two possessions while LSU reeled off 10 points on its next two drives to tie the game at 24-24 on Starzyk’s chip-shot field goal with 11:21 left to play.
And about LSU’s offense. . .
Kiffin, who’s renowned for developing quarterbacks, has a challenge on his hands with Tigers’ starter Leavitt, the Arizona State fourth-year junior transfer who supposedly was the second-best QB in the portal.
No doubt Leavitt has shown he’s an instinctive runner, especially escaping collapsing pass pockets. He’s second in the SEC in touchdowns scored (six TD rushes) and eighth in the league in rushing yards per game (66).
But when he lifts his arm to pass, he looks a one-dimensional overpaid and previously underdeveloped former Pac-12 starter who’s a neophyte dealing with more athletic SEC defenses and the aura of playing the league stadiums packed with enthusiastic/obnoxious fan bases.
“Sam did a great job making some great plays, running around trying to will the comeback,” Kiffin said. “We’ve just been off in the passing game now at the beginning of both (Clemson and Ole Miss) games.”
At his best, Leavitt makes quick, smart decisions. At his worst, he holds the ball too long before often not getting his feet set and missing wide open receivers, which he did twice for potential TDs vs. the Rebels.
His worst miss was whizzing a pass off the fingertips of uncovered tight end Zach Grace for a possible 6-yard third-and-goal TD catch with 1:03 left to play that would have put LSU in position to tie the game on a two-point conversion.
Then on the Tigers’ fourth-down last gasp, Leavitt combined two of his repeated bad habits – getting a pass tipped and throwing into a crowd – resulting in LSU’s miracle-killing interception.
It doesn’t matter Leavitt is averaging a career-high 310 total offense yards per game. A trained monkey can hit those numbers in Kiffin’s system.
Leavitt’s current three-game stat line of three passing TDs and five interceptions needs to flip in a hurry.
LSU’s remaining eight SEC games in a first-time nine-game league schedule, thanks to the stunning improvement of Kentucky, Mississippi State and Auburn (LSU’s three-week stretch of October games), just got considerably tougher after the weekend matchups.
Kentucky (2-1 overall, 1-1 SEC) scored a stunning 31-21 road win at then-No. 9 Texas A&M (2-1, 0-1 SEC and LSU’s next opponent this Saturday in Tiger Stadium). Mississippi State (3-0, 1-0 SEC) won 41-34 at South Carolina. Auburn (2-1, 0-1 SEC) lost to Florida in a 44-39 scoring fest.
“Man, it feels like we’ve already played a season with so much emotion in the first and third games,” Kiffin said. “And now we’re right back to where we’ve always been and have eight SEC games to play. There’s a lot of football left.”
And more unforeseen challenges, such as a season ending ACL tear suffered vs. Ole Miss by Tigers’ starting defensive back Deshawn Spears and star tight end Trey’Dez Green now set to miss several games with what his mother described on social media as “bad
sprains and bruises.”
“Knowing you still have eight more SEC games to go, the injuries were more impactful than the loss,” said Kiffin, whose team dropped three spots in the AP poll to No. 10 and four slots to No. 11 in the coaches poll.
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