BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) LSU has been the favorite in its past 15 meetings with Mississippi. That won’t be the case when the teams meet at Tiger Stadium on Saturday night. But LSU coach Les Miles likes the way his team has performed lately.
Winless so far against the SEC West, the Tigers have taken advantage of weaker Eastern Division opponents the past two weeks, coming from behind to edge Florida 30-27 and then routing Kentucky 41-3.
After falling out of the national rankings for the first time in six years earlier this month, those two victories have put the Tigers back in the AP Poll at No. 24.
“Our football team is improving in all three phases,” Miles said.
The numbers from last week’s game back up Miles’ claim. LSU piled up 303 yards rushing, held an SEC opponent without a touchdown and produced several big plays in the kicking game, including a punt return for a 67-yard touchdown by cornerback Tre’Davious White.
“An offensive line which helps the team run the ball best takes pressure off the quarterback,” Miles said. “When they protect the quarterback it allows him to go back in the pocket and do the things he wants to do.”
Miles pointed to the two interceptions and fourth-down stops in the past two games as signs of an improved defense.
“It works when the defense plays well and turns the ball back over to the offense,” Miles said. “When a Tre’Davious White throws in a 7-pointer, the players can look up and see that scoreboard. It makes it more enjoyable to go to the field.”
The last time Ole Miss played LSU as the higher-ranked team was 1999, one season before Nick Saban became LSU’s coach. That year No. 25 Ole Miss defeated the unranked Tigers 42-23.
This time Ole Miss invades Death Valley in the running for an SEC title and a berth in the national College Football Playoff under coach Hugh Freeze.
“Coach Freeze is doing a great job building a quality program,” Miles said. “They are a very talented team on both sides of the ball. Ole Miss has a style of team that deserves being nationally ranked and deserves the best efforts of their opponents.”
LSU failed miserably in its two matchups against powerhouse teams from the SEC West this season. Mississippi State took a 24-point lead before holding off a late rally to beat the Tigers 34-29. Then, LSU suffered its worst loss in 15 years at Auburn, losing 41-7.
Except for a brief flurry of points at the end of the Mississippi State game, LSU did very little on offense in its two SEC defeats. LSU didn’t score an offensive touchdown in the first three quarters of the Mississippi State game and put up one touchdown against Auburn.
In the victories against Florida and Kentucky, the Tigers have relied upon their running game. Anthony Jennings completed fewer than 50 percent of his passes in those two games – 17-of-35 for only 230 yards. But LSU tailbacks ran 80 times for 466 yards and six touchdowns.
Ole Miss’ defense is one of the best in the country, particularly against the run. Rebels’ opponents are rushing for just 97.1 yards per game. Ole Miss is yielding 2.9 yards per rush. The improving LSU offensive line and rushing attack will face a huge challenge.
“We are looking forward to another great opportunity to go against a very good defense,” left guard Vadal Alexander said. “From what I remember from last year Ole Miss’ defensive line has great game speed with great athletes. We have to come prepared.”
The LSU defense has allowed only one long touchdown drive in the last two weeks. Florida’s Andre Debose returned a punt for a touchdown and returned another punt to LSU’s 9 to set up another score. Ole Miss will provide a stiff test with quarterback Bo Wallace.
Two seasons ago Wallace nearly led the Rebels to an upset victory over LSU at Tiger Stadium. He passed for 310 yards and two touchdowns and ran for two touchdowns, but LSU held on to win 41-35. A year ago, Wallace was 30-of-39 for 346 yards as the Rebels upset LSU 27-24.
The Tigers had little success stopping dual-threat quarterbacks Dak Prescott from Mississippi State and Nick Marshall from Auburn. Both quarterbacks passed for more than 200 yards and ran for more than 100 yards. Mississippi State and Auburn gained 570 and 566 yards, respectively.
“Bo Wallace is maybe one of the best quarterbacks who has gone through this conference,” Miles said. “Both (Prescott and Marshall) are talented guys. But we’re in a better position now to play defense against anybody.
“We’re lining up against one of the premier teams in our conference,” Miles added. “It will certainly be a challenge for us.”
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