Ole Miss racked up 432 yards of total offense, including 361 total yards from Kelly.
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It’s been a fall from grace for the former national champion, who has been unable to get LSU back to the heights that the Tigers have become accustomed to. They claimed they heard none of the talk about their coach this week.
No. 17 Louisiana State has lost two straight games and fallen out of Southeastern Conference title contention while No. 25 MS lost its last outing two weeks ago in overtime. Tigers quarterback Brandon Harris also completed just 51 percent of his passes for 324 yards and had two interceptions.
“Our goal was to make them one-dimensional”, Ole Miss defensive back Mike Hilton said. Obviously if the game becomes anything like the 53-52 shootout against Arkansas, LSU is in trouble.
Although Fournette broke the 100-yard plateau for the first time in three games with 108 yards on 25 carries, he was kept out of the end zone for the first time this season. More importantly than historical trends when it comes to today’s matchup, thanks to Heisman candidate Leonard Fournette the Tigers are 10th in the nation in rushing yards per game, averaging 253.0 yards on the ground. After LSU put up a lopsided 38-17 loss, NOLA.com reported that LSU donors were on board buying out his contract, which would take $15 million, and hiring Florida State’s Jimbo Fisher.
Ole Miss’ best and most important win came against Alabama in week five, because if the two wind up in a tie atop the SEC West, the Rebels have the advantage.
It’s been extremely hard to predict how the Ole Miss football team will play all season.
Ole Miss leads the SEC in scoring this year with more than 40 points per game. The Tigers were penalized 13 times for 95 yards, had three turnovers and fumbled four times, including twice on one series. They’re low-quality losses, and they seem to show that the LSU program just isn’t at the level that it needs to be.
The Tigers have also been prone to the big play, and they are 14 – dead last – in the league in red zone defense. LSU has been Bama’s little brother since Saban took the helm at Tuscaloosa in 2007, even losing to them in the 2012 BCS National Championship Game.
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Ultimately, it’s too early to speculate, but it’s very interesting to see the roller-coaster that Les Miles’ year has become. “Anything can happen. It’s going to be a dogfight all 60 minutes – no game is won in 30 minutes”.
