One of the greatest challenges of the 2025 football season is dawning on LSU for Week 5: the Ole Miss Rebels.
Sure, this isn’t LSU’s first SEC game, but it could be the most important up to this point. Clemson has had a rough season since its loss to the Tigers, and Florida has gone downhill at the same pace.
Head coach Brian Kelly said in the weekly press conference that the approach is the same this week as it is any other week: do their thing and take care of business.
“Now we’re into the SEC for a couple of months, and so each and every week is a challenge,” Kelly said. “We know the opposition each week will certainly test us, but now you lean on your foundational principles. You lean on what your process is and how you go to work every day, your habits.”
In the 2024 season, the Tigers topped the Rebels 29-26 in an iconic victory, but how has the purple and gold fared in Oxford further in the past?
LSU owns the all-time record of 65-38-3 and 20-13-2 in Vaught-Hemmingway. The rivalry dates back all the way to 1894.
In LSU’s 2019 season, Joe Burrow and the hot offense ran through the Rebels, offering a 58-37 victory. At a school known for defense, the offense sure tore through Oxford like a knife through butter.
In 2003, the SEC West title was decided in the LSU-Ole Miss game, and it was a game for the ages. The historically tough LSU defense took down Eli Manning and the Rebel offense, leading to a high-stakes victory before the national championship in the same season.
Other iconic wins for LSU include the night the clock stood still in 1972. The Tigers threw a touchdown with four seconds left on the clock to win 17-16, but the Ole Miss players thought the game was already over, which led to conspiracies that more time was added to the play clock.
This rivalry is marked by intense competition, but history has proven that the Tigers are at the top. This game on the road might have more favor for the Bayou Bandits than most people think. The road is tough in the SEC, but historically, the purple and gold have made an unexpected home in Oxford.
“You feel better about [road] games because you’re taking a defense that you know can stand up against the environment going on the road and all those things,” Kelly said. “And we’re a much more cohesive group [than versus Clemson.] The roster is better, the players are better. Those were good, tough kids that played hard for us.”
Kelly also said that the offense might have been lacking in recent weeks, but he understands that they will have to step up their game heading into the treacherous weeks of SEC play to back up the strong defense LSU has sported so far this season.
If it all clicks for the team, this game should be able to define the season in the most positive way yet.
The biggest battle of the season will take place on Saturday in Oxford, Mississippi, with a 2:30 p.m. kick-off time.
