After struggling to find the red zone score they needed all night, the LSU football team finally found the end zone with 5:07 to give the Tigers a 10-7 victory over No. 3 Ole Miss.
After a first half of miscues and a second half battle for field position, LSU finally broke through late in the fourth quarter. With 11:06 to play in the game, the Tigers got the touchdown drive they needed.
Senior running back Kenny Hilliard, freshman running back Leonard Fournette and sophomore fullback Melvin Jones gained 92 yards on the Tigers’ 13-play, 95-yard drive.
Hilliard totaled 50 of his 64 yards on the game on the scoring drive. Miles said the senior ran his hardest when the Tigers need it.
“[Kenny Hilliard] came in fresh and he picked up 64 very, very difficult yards,” Miles said. “[He] just said no and ran through some tackles and was not going to be denied a first down.”
But in the end, it was sophomore quarterback Anthony Jennings who found senior tight end Logan Stokes for the game-winning three-yard touchdown pass.
Jennings said he owed Stokes a touchdown after missing him in the end zone last week.
“I told him I would make up for the missed touchdown pass against Kentucky,” Jennings said. “I am glad he came up big when it mattered.”
On Ole Miss’ next drive, the LSU defense stuffed Ole Miss senior quarterback Bo Wallace on a sneak with 1:44 left to play on fourth down near midfield, but the Tigers couldn’t end the game there though.
The Rebels forced LSU to punt. Ole Miss drove the ball down to the LSU 25-yard line, where they lined up for the game-tying field goal. A delay of game penalty pushed Ole Miss back to the 30-yard line, but LSU called timeout before the kick.
After the timeout, Ole Miss came out and looking to take a quick shot to the sideline, coach Hugh Freeze said. Instead, Wallace took a chance toward the endzone and senior safety Ronald Martin undercut the pass sealing the game.
Martin said last year’s loss to Ole Miss motivated the Tigers’ defense to stay focused and play hard.
“Coach Chavis challenged us early in the week to be prepared and to take on the challenge because last year [Ole Miss] threw for over 300 yards on us,” Martin said. “We just have to step up to the challenge.”
The defense did answer the challenge as they held the Rebels to 313 total yards with only 176 of those yards in the air.
The Tigers missed three chances to secure interceptions in the first half, but remained focus and made sure not to let those drops affect their play in the second half.
“We responded well as a whole, and we knew what we had to do,” LSU middle linebacker Kendell Beckwith said. “We came back in the second half and made those plays happen.”

Gallery • 5 Photos

Thomas Graning

LSU tight end Logan Stokes (84) is joined by teammates after his touchdown during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Mississippi in Baton Rouge, La., Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014. LSU won 10-7. (AP Photo/The Daily Mississippian, Thomas Graning)