After an impressive road win over Florida, LSU now moves onto an even tougher SEC matchup at home against Ole Miss.
LSU is a slight favorite in the game, but Ole Miss enters the game 7-0 and in first place in the SEC West. The Rebels are coming off a 48-34 win over Auburn, where they looked dominant at times, but vulnerable at times as well.
Leading up to the game, I got the chance to talk to Aidan Gallardo of the Daily Mississippian, who serves as Sports Editor and covers Ole Miss football. Here is the conversation I had with Aidan and what he had to say about this Ole Miss team.
Rauterkus: Despite being undefeated, Ole Miss seems to have some in-game lapses at times. Is that something that is talked about as a flaw for this team?
Gallardo: “Yeah, it’s been brought up a lot. Lane Kiffin mentioned it in his press conferences. I think their biggest weakness is just playing four full quarters of good football, because they seem to let their foot off the gas pedal like in the second half of games. They won’t be able to win consistently if they can’t play for four good quarters of football. Because I mean, [with] good teams coming up like LSU, Alabama, Arkansas, you won’t be able to win games like that if you just play one good half of football.”
Rauterkus: Now into year three under Lane Kiffin, how would you assess the state of the program at Ole Miss?
Gallardo: “It’s continuing to trend upwards. Each year, it seems like the teams are getting better and better. Last year, the team really exceeded expectations, just because Matt Corral. He really played at, I think, a Heisman level season. And then this year, it’s surprising because I thought the team was going to do worse than last year, but apparently, I was wrong. And I don’t know. They just continue to surprise me. And I mean, the fans. They love Lane Kiffin and everyone in Oxford loves him. I mean, there’s always gonna be rumors that he’s looking to leave to different programs and stuff like that. But I honestly think he’s gonna say here, I think he loves Ole Miss.”
Rauterkus: Has the rapid success of the running game been a surprise, or was that expected?
Gallardo: “Definitely surprising. Not as much for Zach Evans because we saw what he did at TCU last year, but for Quinshon Judkins, I mean, he wasn’t really highly recruited out of high school. Like Alabama, Auburn, [I] forgot the other SEC school but they passed on him and then lucky enough, Ole Miss got him. And he’s been I think the biggest surprise of all in college football. I think Judkins has 720 rushing yards this season. It’s second in the SEC. And right behind him at fourth place, Evans has 605. So I think Ole Miss arguably has the best running back room in all of college football, and it’s been really, really great to watch.”
Rauterkus: What have you seen from Jaxon Dart this season at QB?
Gallardo: “He’s been great. The only thing I would say is he’s really interception-prone. I feel like he doesn’t make the best decisions and he knows it too. He’s trying to work on that. Just learn how to throw the ball away when he doesn’t see a play unfolding the way he wants to. But he’s got a great arm. I think he’s got to work on the deep ball a little more. But he’s pretty accurate. He can really use his legs. I didn’t think that he was that good of a runner. I knew he was above average. I knew he was athletic, mobile. I didn’t see this where he runs, like at least 100 yards from last week. I think if LSU shuts down Ole Miss’ running game, and forces Dart to air it out, in my mind a little trouble for Ole Miss offensively.
Rauterkus: How would you describe how the defense has played so far?
Gallardo: “Aside from last week, the defense has been great. They don’t allow many points. They keep everything in front of them and don’t really allow the big plays. But what was surprising last week is they gave up 34 points to a mediocre Auburn offense. They’re running back, Tank Bigsby, he ran for 179 yards and two touchdowns. I think if Ole Miss can stop the run, especially against a team like LSU, and with Jayden Daniels being able to utilize his legs, it could be a long day for us. But also, I think a lot of that has to do with the linebackers. The two starting linebackers to talk about, Troy Brown and Corey Coleman, they’ve been dealing with injuries. So we don’t know if they’ll be 100% this Saturday. So I think that’ll be a key position to look out for, for the defense.”
Rauterkus: What does the LSU rivalry mean to Ole Miss?
Gallardo: “LSU is always a tough opponent, like, no matter how bad their season might be, they might have their worst season of all the time, and they’d still make it close with Ole Miss. So it’s certainly something that I’m excited about and everyone here in Oxford is excited for. A lot of people will be going down to Baton Rouge for the game.”
Rauterkus: How do you see this game’s going and what’s your score prediction?
Gallardo: “It’ll be close, I think. I think the Rebels will win 31 to 28. But I saw that LSU was actually opened as a favorite, which I was a little surprised. But also like Death Valley is a tough place to play for any opponent. I think Ole Miss really lucked out. This game was at 2:30 instead of like primetime night game, because I think it’s a whole different atmosphere. This will also be the first true road test for Ole Miss. I mean, yeah, they played at Vanderbilt, but it doesn’t compare to LSU. I think the big key for Ole Miss to win is Jaxon Dart will need to keep his composure and make smart decisions. And if LSU, like I said before, if LSU shuts down Ole Miss’ run game, Dart will need to step up and perform at a high level. Lane Kiffin has all the confidence in the world with him. And I don’t really think the rebels will hesitate to air it out if they’re forced to. It’ll definitely be like a nail biter type of game. It’ll be down to whoever can make that last minute stop on defense.”
Prediction: Ole Miss 31-28 LSU
