By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
BATON ROUGE – Rewind just more than three weeks ago, and LSU head coach Brian Kelly and his team had a long plane ride home from Orlando after a stunning 45-24 season-opening loss to Florida State.
The most puzzling thing to Kelly was the Seminoles outscored the Tigers 31-7 in the second half. LSU had 15 returning starters – 8 on offense, 7 on defense – from its 2022 SEC West Division championship squad that came back for wins vs. Auburn, Mississippi State and Ole Miss by 17, 13 and 17 points respectively.
With those returning players, why did LSU roll over and play dead in the final two quarters vs. FSU? Where was their fight, their hunger to win?
After two blowout wins over Grambling and Mississippi State, the Tigers had to battle back from a late-second quarter deficit last Saturday in a 34-31 SEC victory over the Arkansas Razorbacks. Kelly liked how his team climbed out of a 10-point hole by scoring in the last 30 seconds of the first half and the first minute of the second half.
“We really didn’t have the right mix of mindset going into the Florida State game, so this (the Arkansas game) was our first chance really to identify who we were when we got down,” Kelly said at his weekly Monday press conference. “We immediately responded. We came out in the second half and played the kind of football that I expect.
“Never flinching, knowing that we were going to take some more shots. And when we gave up a play, we forgot about it. We’re starting to see some resiliency from last year to this year.”
Heading into Saturday’s game between No. 13 LSU and No. 20 Ole Miss in Oxford, Kelly is happy with the Tigers’ offense that leads the SEC in scoring (42.75 points per game) and total offense (530 yards per game).
LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels won the co-SEC Offensive Player of the Week for a second consecutive week, totaling 356 yards including 5 TDs vs. Arkansas. The Tigers had two 100-yard receivers (Malik Nabers 8 catches for 130 yards, 2 TDs and Brian Thomas (5 receptions for 133 yards, 2 TDs). Running back Logan Diggs almost had his second 100-yard rushing game in the last three weeks, running for 97 yards and 14 carries.
There was a lot to like offensively.
Defensively, not so much.
Arkansas gained 426 total offense yards. QB KJ Jefferson totaled 337 yards and 3 TDs passes. His constant escapes from a collapsing pass pocket consistently sent the Tigers’ defense into a tizzy, especially LSU’s defensive backs who ran around like their jerseys were on fire.
One play in the first minute of the fourth quarter – Jefferson’s scrambling 59-yard TD pass off a scramble to wide-open Luke Hasz – illustrated what Kelly believes is the crux of LSU’s defensive woes.
“This is about staying focused all the time and doing your job,” Kelly said. “He (LSU cornerback Zy Alexander) lost sight of what he should have been doing on that particular play.
“He saw the quarterback as a run threat. That’s not his (Alexander) job. His job was to be the deep half-defender. Go do your job. There was somebody else assigned to him. (Jefferson)
“We are trying to chase too many plays on defense. We’re trying to make plays that aren’t really our place to make. We need to do our job. Once we settle down and do the ordinary things extraordinarily well, this can be a really good defense.”
KNOW YOUR ENEMY
LSU (3-1 overall, 2-0 SEC West) at Ole Miss (3-1, 0-1 SEC West), Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Saturday, 5 p.m. (ESPN)
Last game for Ole Miss: Lost at 24-10 at Alabama last Saturday. After trailing 7-6 at halftime, Alabama was dominant on both sides of the ball in the second half as the Tide racked up 241 total offense yards compared to 148 for Ole Miss.
Series record and last meeting: LSU leads the series 64-41-4. Last season in Tiger Stadium, unbeaten Ole Miss led 17-3 in the second quarter before LSU scored 28 unanswered points in a 45-20 win. Tigers’ quarterback Jayden Daniels completed 21 of 28 passes for 248 yards and 2 TDs and ran for 121 yards and 3 TDs on 23 carries.
Ole Miss head coach: Lane Kiffin (87-48 in 12 seasons, 26-14 in his third season at Ole Miss)
THIS AND THAT
Early betting line: LSU opens as a 2½-point favorite
Number of Louisiana natives on Ole Miss roster: 1
Number of Mississippi natives on LSU roster: 6
Number of transfers on Ole Miss roster from 4-year schools: 40 players from 37 schools including 19 players from 15 Power 5 Conference schools
OLE MISS PLAYERS TO WATCH
QB Jaxson Dart (65 of 103 for 1,096 passing yards, 7 touchdowns, 2 interceptions, 219 rushing yards and 3 TDs on 44 carries), WR Tre Harris (8 catches for 188 yards, 5 TDs), WR Jordan Watkins (24 catches for 347 yards, 1 TD), RB Quinshon Judkins (201 rushing yards and 4 TDs on 57 carries)
FS Trey Washington (25 tackles, 2 TFL), MLB Khari Coleman (19 tackles, 2½ TFL, 1½ sacks), SS John Saunders Jr. (18 tackles, 1 sack, 4 PBU), PK Caden Davis (7 for 9 FG, 16 of 16 extra points), P Fraser Masin (43.1 ypk, 3 fair catches, 3 inside the 20, 1 plus 50 yards), KO Caden Davis (31 KO for 63.4 average, 23 touchbacks, 1 out of bounds), KR Ulysses Bentley IV (6 for 113 yards), PR Jordan Watkins (4 for 72 yards, 1 TD)
HIS-TO-RY QUIZ
1. The last time Ole Miss clinched an SEC championship. . .
A. Current head coach Lane Kiffin wasn’t yet born
B. The Beatles hadn’t made their first U.S. appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show
C. Was eight days after the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy
D. All of the above
2. What is the highest finish for an Ole Miss player in Heisman Trophy voting?
A. 3rd
B. 2nd
C. 1st
D. 4th
3. Who was the former Ole Miss quarterback from the New Orleans area first to see game action in a Super Bowl?
A. John Fourcade
B. Eli Manning
C. Norris Weese
D. Pee Wee Reese
ANSWERS: 1. D, 2. A, 3. C.
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com