The hype was serious and the tensions were palpable. After months of talk, LSU and Ole Miss were finally ready to spot the ball. Lane Kiffin’s return to Oxford was built up with drama after drama, tit for tat pettiness, and good ole fashion hate. Two good teams were set to square off with what was one of the most anticipated regular season matchups in recent history. Finally, it was time to play football. 1 st quarter flow After winning the toss and choosing to defer, LSU sent the defense out to start the game. They got the start they were looking for, putting early pressure on Trinidad Chambliss and the Ole Miss offense. After a short gain and then a holding penalty, Chambliss threw a swing pass to Kewan Lacy that was dropped, but it was reviewed and ruled a backwards pass, moving the ball way back to the spot in which Lacy recovered the ball for a loss of 14. The Tigers forced the 3-and-out and started with great field position at their own 39. Unfortunately, Sam Leavitt and the offense were going to get off to a slow start and they answered with 3-and-out of their own. After Ole Miss put together a 12-play, 59 yard drive to strike first on a 37-yard Lucas Caneiro field goal, the early game jitters continued for Kiffin’s signal caller. They’d give the ball right back with another 3-and-out. That’s when the Rebels found their groove, marching right down the field for a 6-play, 78 yard drive that included two plays of 30 or more yards. Chambliss hit Caleb Odom for 30 yards on a 3 rd and 6 to get down to the LSU 5 yard line and Lacy fought his way right through the middle to make it a quick 10-0 lead. Leavitt and the offense finally gained their first 1 st down with under a minute to play in the 1 st quarter. 1 st quarter summary The biggest takeaway from the 1 st quarter was how frantic Sam Leavitt was. He looked extremely uncomfortable and borderline nervous. Was he actually nervous, considering that he’s started in a playoff game? I’m not sure, but it was rough. Blake Baker’s defense actually had Chambliss and the Ole Miss off balance early, forcing them to use two of their timeouts on their first two drives. Unfortunately, they were left on the field for 20 plays in the 1 st with the offense being anemic, so they were gassed early and that led to zero pressure on the touchdown drive. Kiffin’s offense finally found their rhythm to close the quarter with some short passes. 2 nd quarter flow The promising drive that ended the 1 st quarter quickly fell apart with a sack of Leavitt that put the Tigers behind the sticks, eventually leading to a punt. After Grant Chadwick pinned the Rebels deep at their own 8, it took just three plays for them to get across midfield. A Lacy run of 22 yards and a 23 yard reception by Odom quickly put the Tigers on their heels. Just a few plays later, LSU had the chance to get off of the field, but failed to stop a 3 rd down conversion and Chambliss soon after hit Traylon Ray for a 21 yard touchdown to send Vaught Hemmingway in to a frenzy with a 17-0 lead. It was time for the Tiger offense to wake up or things would get ugly and although it took 17 plays, they marched 75 yards with a near 8 minute drive to find the scoreboard. They converted three 3 rd downs and a 4 th down, but finally got down to the 2 yard line where Dilin Jones bashed his way in for his third touchdown of the season to make it 17-7. With under 2 minutes left in the half, it was crucial that Baker’s unit kept some of the momentum that their offense finally gained, especially considering that LSU would receive the ball to start the 3 rd quarter. That was not the case, though, as Chambliss made things look easy. Consecutive completions of 12, 14, 17, and 7 yards had the Rebels set up at the 20 yard line with 18 seconds left and no timeouts. After an incompletion, Ole Miss had a 3 rd down with just 10 seconds left and close to settling for a field goal. Unfortunately for LSU, Chambliss is the best quarterback in the country and as he scrambled forward without many options, he somehow gunned a pass through the zone defense in to a tight window to Deuce Alexander for a dagger of a touchdown before halftime to make it 24-7. 2 nd quarter summary Leavitt’s struggles continued for much of the 2 nd quarter outside of one drive. His footwork was rough, causing his accuracy to struggle. The tackling against Lacy suffered as the defense began to get tired. Ole Miss went 7-9 on 3 rd downs in the first half, which extended drive after drive and wore LSU down. The last second touchdown looked to be a killer going in to the half with Ole Miss having all of the momentum. The injury to Dashawn Spears made things even worse. 3 rd quarter flow Needing to get something going coming out of the locker room, it was another 3-and-out and things did not look good for the Tigers. Finally, though, they got a much needed big play. On a 3 rd and 6, Ty Benefield blitzed Chambliss and forced an errant throw in to the hands of Ja’Keem Jackson, returning it to the Rebels 33 yard line. Leavitt and Jones took over with their legs, each running the ball on three consecutive plays with Leavitt finally punching it in from 4 yards out to make it a 24-14 game. Ole Miss was looking to answer to retake momentum and had the chance by getting the ball down to the LSU 35 yard line, but a holding penalty put a big damper on their drive. Caneiro came out to attempt a 53-yard field goal, but pushed it right. Somehow, the Tigers were a score away from making it a one-possession game. Leavitt found Winnie Watkins for a gain of 19 yards to start the drive, then converted a 3 rd and 11 with a 23 yard pass to Trey’Dez Green. With a 2 nd and 13, Leavitt threw a pretty good pass to the right side of the endzone for Jackson Harris, but the Hawaii transfer was unable to come down with it. Charlie Weis Jr dialed up the same route on the very next play, but this time it was an even better throw and a beautiful catch by Watkins and just like that, it was a 24-21 game. Tensions were rising for the Rebels, especially after their ensuing drive stalled after making it to midfield. On a 3 rd and 10, Benefield sacked Chambliss for a loss of 20 to force just the second punt of the night for the home team. After bad punt and an Ole Miss penalty, LSU took over at their own 40 yard line and somehow, some way, had the chance to take the lead. After two plays to start the drive, we’d head to the final quarter. 3 rd quarter summary Things looked bleak for the Tigers after the 3-and-out to start the half while down 17. Blake Baker deserves a ton of credit, because despite the onslaught that his defense faced in the first half and the questionable soft coverage, he adjusted and turned the heat up on Chambliss in the 3 rd quarter. The interception was caused by a blitz by Benefield and then his sack at the end of the quarter is what stalled a drive that had a chance to net a field goal, at the least. Leavitt finally looked comfortable, hanging in the pocket and zinging balls to his receivers. The offensive line stepped up and the ground game with Jones helped open up the entire offense. 4 th quarter flow Following a 3 rd down conversion to start the quarter, Trey’Dez Green made a 19 yard reception to get down to the Ole Miss 39, but a helmet to his knee knocked him out of the game. Jones followed with his biggest run of the game, a 20 yarder down in to the redzone. Back-to-back runs of 4 yards by Leavitt and Jones had the Tigers with a 3 rd and 2 from the 3 yard line. A direct snap to Jones went for a 2 yard loss and it forced Kiffin to settle for the 23 yard Scott Starzyk field goal to tie the game at 24. LSU had marched all the way back, but Trinidad Chambliss was still Trinidad Chambliss, despite the 3 rd quarter struggles. A few plays after a big gain of 22 to Horatio Fields, the Rebels faced a 4 th and 1 at the LSU 40 yard line and Pete Golding left his offense on the field. Former Tiger, JT Lindsey, had been in the game for the injured Kewan Lacy and took the direct snap for a massive conversion. Just a little bit later, Golding called a timeout prior to a 2 nd and 10 from the LSU 14 yard line with just over 6 minutes left to go in the game. Chambliss ran an incredible play-action bootleg around the left corner with no one near him to score their first points of the second half and retake the lead. Surprisingly, the Rebel offense stayed on the field for what seemed to be a crazy decision to go for two. They ran hard counts and got LSU to jump offsides twice in a row, moving the ball up to the 1 yard line where Lindsey would punch through and give his team a 32-24 lead. Needing an immediate answer, the Tiger offense found themselves immediately with a 4 th down at their own 31 yard line. Knowing that giving the ball back to Chambliss would likely mean he’d ice the game, Kiffin kept Leavitt out there and he scrambled for a gain of 13 to keep their hopes alive. Leavitt and Jones went to work on the next few plays, setting LSU up with a big 3 rd and 8 where Harris drew a pass interference to move the ball down to the Rebel 10 yard line. After a 5 yard scramble, backup tight end Zach Grace got called for a false start. Leavitt scrambled again, bringing up a 3 rd and goal from the 6 yard line. There were a lot of throws that Leavitt would like back from this game, but the biggest one came next when he missed a wide open Grace that would have been an easy touchdown. With the game on the line, Leavitt tried to hit Harris on a crossing route, but the ball got batted at the line and fell in to the the hands of an Ole Miss defender to secure the win. 4 th quarter summary This game was essentially over when LSU settled for a field goal to tie the game earlier in the 4 th . They had all of the momentum and Ole Miss was fully on their heels and panicking. A touchdown in that scenario to take the lead would have really put the pressure on them. Yes, a top quarterback like Chambliss very well could have found a way, but the Tigers made it too easy for them by taking the pressure off with just a tie game. The decision to run another direct snap to Jones at the goal line was perplexing, especially considering that they’ve shown it multiple times this year and even earlier in the game. On the final drive to try and send the game to overtime, Leavitt missed two possible touchdowns. The 1 st and goal where he scrambled for 5 yards, he tucked the ball a little too early instead of keeping his eyes down field, where he would have seen Harris running open in the end zone. Then, the misfire to Grace was brutal. Final summary This was another tale of two halves for LSU. We saw the slow start against LA Tech and the same issues plagued them against Ole Miss. To be honest, they’re lucky they even had a chance in this game after spotting 17 points to the best quarterback in the country. Again, Blake Baker deserves credit for the adjustments that he made, because the defense did just enough to allow the offense to find their footing and make it a game. The injuries were brutal. Spears tore his ACL and is done for the year. While it looked as if Green may have suffered the same fate, considering how emotional he appeared and unable to walk off of the field, great news came on Sunday. There are no tears or anything more than a sprain, meaning he will be able to return this season. Losing both of those guys on top of losing this game would have been worst case scenario. All in all, LSU lost to a top-10 team on the road. It happens. There were plenty of frustrating moments, but Ole Miss is a really good team. They’re likely a playoff team, once again. Pete Golding and their offensive coordinator, John David Baker, deserve a lot of credit, as do the players. LSU will return home for a very important matchup with Texas A&M in primetime on Saturday night. I will be back in Death Valley to keep you covered, so stay tuned here on The Kneaux. 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