Things are changing throughout the sport of college football but the LSU vs. Ole Miss rivalry remains an annual staple. The programs have met 112 times in their storied histories. It’s a series with a tendency to produce SEC classics.
That’s what we saw last year when LSU dropped a 55-49 shootout in Oxford. [autotag]Jayden Daniels[/autotag] threw for 414 yards and ran for 99 more, but it wasn’t enough thanks to LSU allowing over 706 total yards on defense.
LSU fans who watched that game should be familiar with this Ole Miss offense. QB Jaxson Dart and WR Tre Harris are still here and Lane Kiffin’s offensive style is no secret.
Ole Miss hit the transfer portal hard and it’s a team with plenty of new pieces, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Today, we’ll take a look at five things LSU fans should know about Ole Miss prior to the top 25 showdown on Saturday night.
Ole Miss season to this point
Ole Miss began the year ranked No. 6 in the AP Poll with many calling this team a national title contender. The Rebels won their first four games by a combined score of 220-22. The competition wasn’t stiff, but the dominance was noteworthy nonetheless.
When conference play began, Ole Miss ran into a hiccup, dropping one at home to Kentucky. The Rebel defense held UK to 4.43 yards per play but surrendered a 63-yard pass to set up a touchdown when it mattered late.
On offense, Ole Miss turned the ball over and took four sacks. Tre Harris produced, but Dart didn’t play his best game.
Ole Miss bounced back with a win over South Carolina last week. The OM interior defensive line dominated and Ole Miss didn’t allow a touchdown.
Dart completed just 51.9% of his passes and his PFF passing grade ranked 11th among SEC QBs in Week 6, but it was enough to get the job done.
That brings Ole Miss to 5-1 entering the showdown with LSU.
Tre Harris is still doing damage
Tre Harris caught eight passes for 153 yards and a score against LSU last year. Most of that production came in key moments to keep Ole Miss on the field and in the game.
Harris did most of his work against [autotag]Laterrence Welch[/autotag] and [autotag]Denver Harris[/autotag] while [autotag]Zy Alexander[/autotag] and [autotag]Ashton Stamps[/autotag] held up fine. Welch and Harris aren’t with LSU anymore, but Alexander and Stamps are.
With 885 receiving yards after week six, Harris leads the SEC. He’s catching 81.3% of his targets and his 5.67 yards per route run are nearly a yard better than the SEC’s second-best. He’s putting together a Biletnikoff campaign.
The Ole Miss offense runs through Harris. If LSU allows him to get going, it will be a long night for the Tigers.
Ole Miss is good on the interior defensive line
Ole Miss’ group of interior defensive linemen is one of the best in the SEC. Walter Nolen and JJ Pegues lead all SEC defensive tackles with 17 and 14 pressures, respectively.
Nolen was disruptive last week, forcing seven pressures and coming up with two sacks against South Carolina.
According to PFF, four of the SEC’s best five run-defending defensive tackles play for Ole Miss. Pegues and Nolen rank first and second in the conference in run defense grade while William Echoles and Zxavian Harris aren’t that far behind.
With Nolen and Pegues forming one of the best duos in the SEC, this DT unit is dangerous.
Ole Miss leads the nation in explosive play rate
Counting explosive plays as 20+ yard passes or 10+ yard runs, Ole Miss leads the FBS with an explosive play rate of 19.2%. Nearly every fifth play is an explosive play at that clip.
That’s trouble for an LSU defense that struggles to limit big plays on the ground. The good news is that Ole Miss wasn’t quite as explosive vs Kentucky and South Carolina, the two real defenses it faced.
LSU will get aggressive on Saturday night, so some big plays are expected. LSU needs to generate enough big plays of its own to keep up.
Players to watch
You know Jaxson Dart is the QB and Tre Harris is the guy on offense. We mentioned the group at defensive tackle, too. Here are some other names to keep an eye on.
LB Chris Paul: The Arkansas transfer is playing like one of the best LBs in the country right now. He has 18 pressures and 26 stops to go along with a forced fumble. He’s impacting the game in every phase.
RB Henry Parrish Jr: He was questionable last week, but ended up playing and carried it 21 times for 81 yards and a score. Parrish leads the SEC in runs of 10 or more yards with 21 on the year.
RT Micah Pettus: Now in his third year with Ole Miss, Pettus ranks third among SEC tackles in PFF run blocking grade.
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