GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
Whatever happened to the greatest team in Lane “Joe Cool” Kiffin history?
Whatever happened to the greatest team in Ole Miss NCAA Transfer Portal history?
The Rebels’ 2024 future was so bright with the No. 1 portal class, Kiffin had to wear shades more than usual.
And then he got beat by the ultimate meat-and-potatoes coach at a basketball school. Yes, Mark Stoops, whose lack of style offensively caused a revolt amid Texas A&M fans just as he was about to get hired there after last season, beat Kiffin at his own game Saturday afternoon, 20-17, in Oxford. The Rebels (4-1, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) tumbled from No. 6 to No. 12 in the Associated Press poll.
And suddenly, No. 13 LSU (4-1, 1-0 SEC) looks like an SEC contender again as it has an open date this weekend and two weeks to prepare for Ole Miss on Oct. 12 in Tiger Stadium, which will kick off at 6:30 p.m. on ABC.
After Kiffin and his falsely advertised Rebels, who I have had at No. 1 in the SEC since the beginning of the season by the way, retreated under The Grove, the Tigers responded with their best game of the season on Saturday night in a 42-10 win over South Alabama in Tiger Stadium.
Yes, it was just 24-point underdog South Alabama from the Fun Belt, but LSU looked very average in wins over Nicholls State and UCLA in recent weeks that South Alabama would likely beat. For the first time since narrowly losing to USC in the opener, the Tigers looked good throughout an entire game and not so sloppy. And that loss to No. 11 USC (3-1, 1-1 Big Ten), meanwhile, does not look bad as the Trojans looked strong in a 38-21 win over Wisconsin on Saturday.
Plus, if Kentucky (3-2, 1-2 SEC) is as good as it looked Saturday and in a 13-12 loss to then-No. 1 Georgia on Sept. 14, then LSU having beaten South Carolina (3-1, 2-1 SEC) on Sept. 14 is making the Tigers look that much better as well. South Carolina beat Kentucky, 31-6, on Sept. 7.
LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier can still get a little careless here and there, and I like how coach Brian Kelly chewed him a new one late in the South Alabama game. But Nussmeier is a dangerous quarterback for anyone to face. He is No. 5 in the nation at the moment with 330.4 passing yards a game on 138-of-198 passing for 1,652 yards and 15 touchdowns with four interceptions.
Tailback Caden Durham is LSU’s most exciting tailback since Derrius Guice. The offensive line is improving. The defense is at least decent.
Yes, the Tigers badly need to get their secondary issues figured out quickly, but the fact that Ole Miss’ offense played like it was being coached by Matt Luke should be uplifting for the Tigers. And defensive coordinator Blake Baker and staff should be studying the hell out of the Kentucky-Ole Miss film.
Stoops, a defensive guru, and his defensive coordinator Brad White dismantled offensive expert Kiffin, squashing his shades into shards.
The Rebels had an easy schedule before Kentucky, no doubt, as they sashayed to breezy wins over Furman, 76-0, Middle Tennessee, 52-3, Wake Forest, 40-6, and Georgia Southern, 52-13, before Kentucky came to town.
Still, numbers are numbers, and Ole Miss entered the Kentucky game No. 1 in the nation in total offense (670.8 yards a game), scoring offense (55 points a game), passing offense (422.8 yards a game), and 12th in rushing offense (248 a game). Quarterback Jaxson Dart was No. 1 in passing yards a game at 388.5 and in passing efficiency at 219.4 on 95-of-119 passing for a .798 completion percentage and 12 touchdowns against two interceptions.
And Ole Miss bombed. The Rebels scored 38 points below their average, rushed for 156 below their norm and were held to more than three football fields below their total offense average.
Stoops even beat Kiffin, the supposed master of fourth down metrics, in that category with 3-of-3 conversions to 2-of-2. Stoops wasn’t wearing shades, but he went for it on 4th-and-7 at his own 20-yard line while down 17-13 with 3:51 to go. A daring move, considering Stoops punted amid better circumstances just two weeks ago in the Georgia loss.
In that game, Stoops decided to punt on 4th-and-8 play from Georgia’s 47-yard line while trailing 13-12 with 3:03 to play. And he never saw the ball again until nine seconds remained and was on his 20-yard line. Not this time. Instead, Kentucky quarterback Brock Vandagriff completed a 63-yard pass to wide receiver Barion Brown to set up the go-ahead touchdown.
Kiffin’s offense was miserable on third down, by the way, missing on nine of 10, while the Wildcats hit 4 of 16. And Dart hit just 18 of 27 passes for 261 yards – 127 below his average.
“Beyond disappointing,” a humbled Kiffin said. “It’s a disappointing day. Got to give credit to Stoops.”
It was the type of game LSU needs to play against Ole Miss, which will be at South Carolina on Saturday (2:30 p.m., ESPN).
“It was our kind of game,” Stoops said. “A dirty, ugly, hard-fought game.”
If LSU’s offensive line really is the best in the country, or close to it, it needs to play like that. Kelly needs this one bad. Kiffin is 2-1 against him.
If the Tigers can somehow beat Ole Miss, it will be 5-1 and 2-0 and in the top 10 with the loss to USC virtually erased. A whole new season will open up.
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