OXFORD, Miss.—The phrase “defense wins championships” may be a cliche, but when you give up over 700 yards of total offense it’s hard to win anything, even if your offense scores 49 points.
LSU’s offense showed shades of its 2019 dominance against Ole Miss. Jayden Daniels threw for a career high 414 yards, and the Tigers rushed for another 223 yards.
The defense, however, showed shades of its 2020 self, only worse. Not even the historically bad 2020 defense gave up 700 yards in a game and Saturday night was the highest point total LSU gave up since a 55-17 loss to Alabama in 2020.
“If you like a lot of points, I guess you liked the game. I didn’t like it,” head coach Brian Kelly said.
Kelly struggled to come up with adjectives to describe how he and the team felt after the loss. Given what happened, that doesn’t come as much of a surprise.
LSU’s defense never looked comfortable.
Ole Miss scored on five of its first six drives and had 31 points before the first half ended. Not just that, but the Rebels gained 387 yards of total offense in the first half, including 145 rushing yards, an area where Ole Miss was inconsistent through its first four games.
Coming into the LSU game, star running back Quinshon Judkins was averaging just 3 yards per carry and had yet to run for 100 yards in a game this season.
Against LSU, Judkins was unstoppable. The sophomore ran for 177 yards and led Ole Miss to a 317-yard performance on the ground.
“He made us miss a lot, and we’re just gonna have to get better at tackling and really just playing downhill on defense,” LSU defensive tackle Mekhi Wingo said.
When it wasn’t Judkins, it was Ulysses Bentley IV. Bentley ran for 90 yards on just nine carries, and gashed LSU for a 43-yard touchdown. His speed contrasted Judkins’ powerful running style, and LSU had no answer.
On top of what Ole Miss did running the ball, quarterback Jaxson Dart had arguably the best game of his career. He threw for 389 yards and four touchdowns without throwing an interception or being sacked once during the game.
In Ole Miss’ previous game, Alabama forced Dart into mistakes by forcing him to high-leverage throws with pressure in his face. LSU wasn’t able to duplicate that, and Dart made the Tigers pay.
The Ole Miss offensive line that was considered its weakness through four games dominated LSU. The Tigers struggled to get pressure all game, which allowed Dart to slowly pick apart LSU’s outmatched secondary.
Ole Miss’ receivers constantly ran wide open down the field, led by Lafayette, Louisiana, native Tre Harris. He caught eight passes for 153 yards, leading all receivers in the game.
The biggest issue was tackling. Missed tackles killed LSU in both the run and passing game, creating eight plays of 20 or more yards. The secondary is where most of the missed tackles occurred, allowing 10-yard plays to turn into 20- or 30-yard plays.
Earlier in the week, Kelly said being assignment-sound and disciplined on defense were keys in the game, but neither of those things seemed to happen.
“We didn’t make the plays that we needed to make,” Kelly said after the game. “Those guys were either one on one or in a position to make a play and Ole Miss was better.”
Not only did LSU consistently miss tackles, but the Tigers frequently had busted coverages, allowing receivers to run wide open. Between those plays and the missed tackles, Ole Miss stretched the field with ease.
Kelly explained most of the mistakes as a product of inexperience on defense. Most of LSU’s secondary consists of either freshmen or transfers, and even through five games, the group still lacks cohesion.
“We’re playing with inexperienced young players. And that’s who we have, there’s nobody else walking through the door,” Kelly said. “These are the guys that have to play for us and we have to continue to develop them.”
That’s the concerning part for LSU.
There are no trades in college football. There is no waiver wire. If LSU’s issues are personnel related, they’re not going to be completely fixed during the season. But LSU still has a lot to play for.
The Tigers dropped to 3-2 with the loss, but with only one Southeastern Conference loss, a division title isn’t mathematically out of the cards yet. With inexperience, struggle is expected. Giving up 706 yards of total offense is never expected for LSU, but the positive takeaway is that it’s hard to get worse than that.
“We’re not canceling the season,” Kelly said. “It was gut wrenching, it was difficult of a loss and our guys felt it too. We’re going to go back to work and we’re going to work our tails off to get better. “
