Ole Miss vs. LSU: Game Grades, Analysis for the Rebels and Tigers
The only way to describe this game is a good, old-fashioned slugfest between to rivals from the SEC West. Ole Miss, sporting its best record in nearly half a century and a No. 3 ranking, strolled into Death Valley as a team on a mission to prove to everyone that it belonged in the conversation. LSU, on the other hand, was looking to prove that its newly rediscovered Top 25 ranking was legitimate.
Both teams showed how good they can be, but LSU edged past Ole Miss, 10-7.
Without further ado, let's dive right into all the analysis and grades for both the Rebels and Tigers.
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| Pass Offense | C | C- |
| Run Offense | B+ | C |
| Pass Defense | Incomplete | B+ |
| Run Defense | B | B- |
| Special Teams | B | B+ |
| Coaching | Incomplete | C- |
Ole Miss Pass Offense
Bo Wallace, still struggling against the "Good Bo, Bad Bo" duality of his passing game, came out firing. He wasn't particularly accurate in the first half, finishing 5-of-16, but he had 105 yards and a touchdown to put his Rebels on top.
In the second half, his accuracy improved slightly, but his decision-making abilities seemed to take a nosedive.
LSU's pass rush was able to keep Wallace off-balance, and he even managed to pick up an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty along the way. In the end, Wallace finished 14-of-34 for 177 with one touchdown, but it was his costly interception in the game's waning seconds on a bizarre pass decision on an even more bizarre play call from head coach Hugh Freeze that ended up costing Ole Miss the game.
Ole Miss Run Offense
We knew LSU's run defense would be playing at their best against Ole Miss, but we didn't expect a defense that ranked 10th in the SEC against the run coming into the night to hold Ole Miss completely in check all game long.
The Rebels never cracked the end zone with the run game, and only managed a measly 36 yards on the ground in the second half.
Bo Wallace led his team with just 40 yards on 12 carries.
We were prepared to hand out some nice grades after the Rebels' 101-yard performance in the first half, but with the Tigers locking things down after halftime, the Rebels are lucky to get out of Baton Rouge with a passing mark.
Ole Miss Pass Defense
LSU isn't a passing team, so tonight wasn't a great test of Ole Miss' pass defense. We weren't even able to give any sort of grade after the first half, considering the Tigers attempted just eight passes. Things didn't get much better in the second half, as LSU's Anthony Jennings threw just eight more, but the Rebels did have a pair of interceptions (by Senquez Golson and Mike Hilton) after the break, so that's worth noting.
Also worth noting is the fact that the Rebels passing defense gave up the game-winning touchdown through the air after LSU had run 12 straight run plays.
Can we really blame Ole Miss for selling out against the run at that point?
Ole Miss Run Defense
As students, we often figured that handing out grades was easy for teachers. But trying to sift through the plethora of information we received from the LSU running game is no easy task. The Rebels "limited" the run-heavy LSU offense to 147 yards on the ground in the first half, but also forced two fumbles—one of which came in the end zone, saving six points.
After halftime, however, the Ole Miss front seven was gradually worn down by an unrelenting Tigers rushing attack. LSU finished with 264 yards on the evening.
Still, Ole Miss managed to do something most teams can't: The Rebels held the LSU running game to zero points.
Ole Miss Special Teams
The Ole Miss special teams unit did what it came to do: not screw up too badly.
Ole Miss didn't attempt a field goal (although the Rebels probably should have, more on that later), and the punting game was pretty impressive (downing five punts inside the 20, including a couple inside the five). The two kick returns by Jaylan Walton both went for 18 yards apiece, and Markell Pack's lone punt return gained a single yard thanks to some great coverage by LSU.
We do have to mention, however, one negative: the field-goal unit suffered a delay-of-game penalty in the game's final seconds, pushing what would have been a 42-yard field-goal attempt to 47 yards—and, boy, did that affect the outcome of the game.
Still, no overwhelming complaints here (since the field goal wasn't attempted in the end), and the punting game was solid enough to flip the field a few times, so we'll send the Rebels out with a healthy "B+."
Ole Miss Coaching
Now let's talk about that "should have" field-goal attempt.
It's perfectly valid to have concerns about a kicker from long distance in a big game on the road at a place like LSU. It's even more understandable when that kicker is a freshman like Gary Wunderlich.
But with just a few seconds remaining in the game, and down by three points, isn't a 47-yard field goal attempt at least worth trying?
We're not prepared to fail Hugh Freeze and his staff, but his decision-making process will likely be questioned by Ole Miss faithful for years to come—especially if the Rebels are left out of the College Football Playoff due to this loss.
| Pass Offense | B | B |
| Run Offense | B- | B |
| Pass Defense | B+ | B+ |
| Run Defense | B- | A- |
| Special Teams | C+ | C+ |
| Coaching | B+ | A- |
LSU Pass Offense
When you have a passing game like LSU's, usually the best you can hope for is not screwing things up too badly. The Tigers are all about the run, and that fact is evidenced by Anthony Jennings attempting just 16 passes on the evening.
True to form this season, Jennings completed exactly 50 percent of his throws. In fact, Jennings was 4-of-8 in both halves tonight, finishing 8-of-16 for 142.
His two interceptions were poor throws, and there's no ignoring those glaring failures on the night. Still, when you have a passing game that just barely gets by as legitimate, it's impressive to see Jennings able to hit an almost too-wide-open receiver in Logan Stokes (who?) for the game-winning touchdown.
Speaking of Stokes, what a time for his first-ever reception! The three-yard catch, standing all alone in the end zone, came after LSU had run 12 consecutive run plays on a 95-yard drive that chewed up nearly six minutes of the fourth quarter.
We won't ignore the two picks in the final-grade consideration, but that touchdown was such a thing of beauty (again, considering LSU's general lack of passing proficiency) that we're willing to hand out a very generous "B."
LSU Run Offense
If you were hoping to see a power LSU running game tonight, you probably went home satisfied.
The Tigers ran around, over and through Ole Miss all night to the tune of 264 yards on 55 carries. Leonard Fournette led the way with 113 yards on 23 carries, including some late runs shaking off would-be tacklers and picking up some crucial first downs.
Terrence Magee also got in on the action, putting up 74 yards while Kenny Hilliard added 63.
Ole Miss was able to hold the ground game scoreless, however, and the two first-half fumbles are definitely a cause for concern moving forward. This game would have likely been over a lot sooner had LSU's ground game been able to finish its early first-half drives.
Still, a win is a win, and 264 yards is nothing to sneeze at.
LSU Pass Defense
Holding a quarterback to 177 yards on 14-of 34 passing isn't a bad night, but we're not sure exactly how much of that had to do with LSU's pass defense and how much had to do with Bo Wallace's questionable decision-making.
It could have been much worse for Wallace and the Rebels had LSU been able to hang on to the two dropped interceptions in the first half or the third in the second half, but we do know that Wallace is capable of putting up some big numbers.
Just not against LSU's secondary.
We're also heaping some recognition on Ronald Martin for his game-saving interception in the game's final seconds when Bo Wallace jacked up what we can only describe as a wishful pass on fourth down.
LSU Run Defense
You'd think that with LSU loving the run game, the run defense gets quite a lot of practice against solid running backs during the week.
You'd probably be right, too. The Tigers held Ole Miss to 137 yards on 37 rush attempts, and no Rebel had more than 40 yards on the ground. The Tigers also kept the Rebels out of the end zone on the ground, and the lack of production in the run game played right into the lack of success available to the Ole Miss passing attack.
LSU Special Teams
There wasn't anything spectacular in the special teams game for LSU, other than a spectacularly missed short field-goal attempt in the first half.
It didn't cost LSU the game, but it made things a little more interesting early on. Colby Delahoussaye made up for his earlier error by nailing a 51-yarder in the second quarter, but we're still a bit puzzled by his miss from 28 yards early in the first quarter. He's just so reliable, usually...
LSU Coaching
The Hat does it again. Another fourth-quarter comeback for Les Miles, and another big win in a prime-time game for LSU at home against a ranked opponent.
Miles did absolutely everything he needed to do to keep his team in the game despite some early setbacks. The Tigers were never allowed to get down on themselves, and Miles engineered some great drives in the second half to not only come up with the winning score, but bleed quite a bit of clock.
Speaking of that winning score: Only Les Miles would run the ball 12 straight times from LSU's five to the Ole Miss three and then dial up a play-action pass for the game-winning touchdown.
That's either genius or crazy. Either way, it worked.
Unless otherwise noted, quotes or references to quotes were obtained firsthand by the writer.
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