The last thing that Miles and the Tigers can afford is for this game to get out of hand like the Arkansas game did where the Tigers were down 21-0 late in the first quarter. However, Kelly and the Rebels turned up the heat with Kelly chucking the pigskin all over the field and causing the Tigers major problems with his legs.
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The Tigers outgained Ole Miss by 508 yards to 432 and ran 89 plays to 65, but they were penalized 13 times for 95 yards.
It’s one game, yes, but part of an ongoing trend.
Kelly threw for 280 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 81 yards and two touchdowns to lead No. 25 Ole Miss over No. 17 LSU 38-17 on Saturday.
Laquon Treadwell, WR, Ole Miss: Treadwell is stamping himself as the best receiver in the SEC and was named this week as a semi-finalist for the Biletnikoff Award given to the country’s best.
Ole Miss’ Evan Engram catches a pass from Kelly for a 36-yard TD.
“You have to understand you have to control the game”, Kelly said. The Tigers will come in with an attitude, and Fournette will go off, but the Rebel offense will be sharp in a fun game with more offense than expected. That is motivation for a Rebel squad that did not live up to preseason expectations with losses to Florida and Arkansas then the disappointing out-of-conference setback to a good Memphis squad.
Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly ran 6 yards for a TD.
The Rebels twice had leads of at least three touchdowns and preserved the margin with a goalline stand with under 7 minutes left after LSUreached the Ole Miss 1. Today’s victor can get back on track for the season, but the loser may fall out of the Top 25 entirely. It did gain more than 500 yards Saturday, but it appears to be too late for a meaningful remodel.
“I honestly do not”, Miles said when asked after the game if he felt his job was in danger.
LSU first scored on a blown coverage on a deep throw to the end zone and then benefitted from a fumbled kick return at the start of the third quarter.
Fournette, the former Heisman front-runner, had 4.3 yards per carry against Ole Miss, which was his second-lowest count of the season.
If LSU is going to do it – and LSU is going to do it – do it now. The 26 completions and 51 attempts were also career highs. Needing two more victories, LSU, Mississippi State, and Ole Miss each have two games remaining against SEC West opponents and Texas A&M plays Vanderbilt and LSU. The Rebels speed and variety of weapons will be huge away from home. Now, it sounds as if winning the final two games of the season might not even be enough.
Ole Miss honored a large group of impact seniors Saturday afternoon, and several star underclassmen will probably follow them out the door and into the NFL.
Should be an interesting next couple of weeks for LSU football.
The Mississippi State Bulldogs are 8-3 this season and are coming off of a thrilling win at Arkansas.
Combined, those two advantages would put Ole Miss in a great spot for 2016.
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“It’s not just the number of losses, but the quality of the losses”, board member Ronald Anderson said Friday on the slipping job status of LSU coach Les Miles, who is now the first LSU coach since Jerry Stovall in 1983 to lose three straight games by eight points or more.
