OXFORD, MISS. — It was no surprise that the smallest man on the field would be the biggest thorn in the side of the LSU defense in the Tigers’ 25-23 loss to Ole Miss on Saturday.Not one of the 61,752 fans that packed Vaught-Hemingway Stadium that afternoon was stunned to see the ball in the hands of No. 22.Dexter McCluster was a familiar name to the LSU defense or coaching staff. LSU coach Les Miles reminded the Tigers (8-3, 4-3) all week that the senior running back was capable of doing some major damage.”He’s one of the most talented players in college football,” Miles said. “I think he’s a very good player.”Just last weekend against Tennessee, McCluster posted Ole Miss records of 282 rushing yards and 324 all-purpose yards. He also   tallied four touchdowns in that game. His performance earned him Walter Camp Football Foundation National Offensive Player of the Week honors.McCluster, who ranks second on the Ole Miss career all-purpose yardage list, lived up to Miles’ assessment and then some on Saturday.The Largo, Fla., native, playing in his final home game for the Rebels (8-3, 4-3), went off for 193 all-purpose yards and one touchdown. His 148 rushing yards on 24 carries marked the second-straight game he rushed for more than 100 yards and the fourth consecutive Southeastern Conference matchup he has reached the century mark.On the second play from scrimmage, McCluster got the handoff on a stretch play, found a hole and kicked it into high gear, gaining 57 yards and setting up Ole Miss to kick a field goal and take an early 3-0 advantage.LSU senior middle linebacker Jacob Cutrera felt the defense allowed McCluster to break big runs by missing assignments and not being in position.”[The defense] played average,” Cutrera said. “We had missed tackles, guys not being in the right gaps. But you have to give credit to them. They have some good [running] backs.”McCluster spread out his yardage well and gained 107 in the first half and 86 in the second half. The senior offensive specialist also had five plays that gained more than 15 yards.The most important of those plays came with the Rebels trailing 17-15 early in the fourth quarter.With 13:33 remaining in the game, McCluster took a handoff running toward the sideline. Before he made a cut up the field, he pulled back and threw a pass to senior wide receiver Shay Hodge, who was wide open inside the LSU 5-yard line. Hodge caught the pass and strolled into the end zone untouched for what would prove to be the deciding points in the ball game.Prior to the game, McCluster had not completed a pass in his career and had two career interceptions.”They weren’t showing any play action fakes, so everyone was flowing to the ball real hard,” Cutrera said. “We just got caught with our pants down.”Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt said McCluster and Hodge ran the play to perfection.”[McCluster] did a beautiful job of selling it” Nutt said. “Shay [Hodge] sold it, too. He broke down like he was going to crack the safety like he’d been doing the previous play.”Following Saturday’s performance, McCluster, the only Ole Miss player to ever record more than 100 rushing yards and 100 receiving yards in the same game, needs just 97 yards on the ground to become the fourth Ole Miss player to record a 1,000-yard rushing season. It would be the sixth 1,000-yard season in Ole Miss history.While McCluster will ride off into the sunset as a hero in Oxford, the only thing left for the LSU defense to do is shake its head and look at what went wrong.”He’s a pretty good [running] back,” said LSU senior defensive tackle Al Woods. “But if we had stayed calm and stayed composed we could have done a lot better in containing him.”
 
 
 
– – – -Contact Rob Landry at [email protected]