Rebel Uprising

Ole Miss handles LSU, 31-13, to win its forth straight.

by Matt Reynolds
Tiger Rag Assistant Editor

Box Score

(At left, Trindon Holliday (Photo by J. Sam Frake)

With “From Dixie with Love” blaring from the Ole Miss band in the south end zone of Tiger Stadium, Houston Nutt and the Rebels celebrated to the tune of a 31-13 victory over the defending national champions on Saturday.

The win gave the Rebels the inside track to second-place in the SEC West, which could result in a Cotton Bowl bid.

It now looks like LSU (7-4, 3-4) could possibly end up with a bid to the Outback, Liberty, Cotton or Chick-fil-A bowl.

Only one season after its second BCS national championship in five seasons, LSU has now lost four games for the first time since 2002, when the Tigers were 8-5 under former coach Nick Saban, now the coach of top-ranked Alabama.

Nutt has now beaten LSU in two consecutive seasons, after his Arkansas Razorbacks from last season outlasted the Tigers last season in triple-overtime.

In dominating fashion, Ole Miss (7-4, 4-3 SEC) took it to its SEC west foe for four quarters – out gaining the Tigers 409-215 in offensive yardage.

Guided by the physical play of its defensive line, Ole Miss was able to contain LSU’s solid ground attack to a mere 37 yards on 29 attempts.

“I thought our opponent played extremely well,” LSU coach Les Miles said. “..They (Ole Miss defensive line) moved around up front. They gave us some good stunt…they really stunted the front. Our offensive line didn’t play their best, certainly, but their defensive line played good too.”

LSU running back Charles Scott — one of the top running backs in the conference entering the game — was held to 10 yards on as many attempts.

“We were really excited all week coming into this game,” Ole Miss safety Kendrick Lewis said. “Our practices were really intense all week long. We knew that LSU was coming out strong to protect their house. We just made really great plays and came out with a victory.”

Ole Miss quarterback Jevan Snead had his way with a battered Tiger defense – completing 16-of-25 passes for 274 yards and two touchdowns.

“It’s such a great feeling,” Snead said. “It’s exciting to be able to come on the road to such a great place and play such a great team and pull off a win.”

It was the third consecutive game without an interception for the sophomore transfer from the university of Texas and Nutt was quick to sing praises of his quarterback after the Rebels emotional victory.

“We knew how good they were, but Jevon Snead came to play today,” Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt. “He really had a breakout game and was so accurate. He was hitting some passes that were awesome. Critical first downs, touchdown throws and then just handling the offense from traffic to changing the play. He is starting to come on as a real quarterback and I’m really excited about that.”

LSU quarterback Jarrett Lee was 4-of-12 for 49 yards and one interception before he was sidelined with an ankle injury late in the first half.

Freshman Jordan Jefferson came on to lead LSU on its only touchdown drive. He wound up 10-of-20 for 129 yards, one TD and one interception. He was sacked three times, the final time when LSU tried to pass on fourth-and-23 in the fourth quarter. The mobile Jefferson was LSU’s leading rusher with 23 yards on 10 attempts.

Miles said in the post game interviews that Lee will most likely not be the starter next week due to the injury.

“I felt like that quarterback was running for his life,” Miles said. “I felt like we might defend the pass as the ball was thrown. We made a change at quarterback based on injury. Jordan Jefferson comes in and does a heck of a job.”

“He gave his team a real lift with his feet and the throws, and it appears to me that will be the direction we go in as we go into the future,” Miles continued. “We look at next week. Certainly, Jarrett (Lee) is questionable. (Andrew) Hatch may be back but may not. We look forward to seeing more of Jordan Jefferson.”

The Tiger defense was victimized early due to blown pass pass coverage on third-and-17 on Ole Miss’ first drive of the game, as New Orleans native Mike Wallace was left wide open over the middle for a 34-yard touchdown strike by Snead.

Colt David would notch a field goal to cut the Ole Miss lead to 7-3.

But the momentum shifted largely when Nutt called for a fake punt on fourth-and-4 from around midfield in first quarter. Upback Jason Cook cut off the long snap and passed to Kendrick Lewis for a 33-yard gain to the LSU 5. Then, Baton Rouge native Brandon Bolden’s 3-yard touchdown run made it 14-3.

Snead continue to pour on the pain as he found Wallace again down the sideline to Wallace for another score to put Ole Miss up 21-3 in the second quarter in front of a stunned crowd in Tiger Stadium.

Lee’s injury occurred on LSU’s next series, as his right ankle was apparently tweaked when he was taken down by Rebels’ defensive tackle Jerry Peria just after releasing a first-down throw to Brandon LaFell.

Jefferson came on in relief and threw a 9-yard TD toss to the leaping Terrance Toliver four plays later, pulling LSU to 21-10 before halftime. David’s 52-yard field goal on the opening series of the second half made it 21-13. The field goal tied David’s career long.

After the LSU offense went stale, Snead would find yet another breakdown in LSU coverage and hit a wide open Lionel Breaux, a New Orleans native, down the left sideline for 39-yards to the Tigers 16.

The “Wild Rebel” formation would then produce the last touchdown of the day for Ole Miss when Markeith Summers took a handoff from Dexter McCluster and ran around the left end to make it 28-13. Ole Miss would add insult to injury with a field goal late in the forth quarter.

“I expected to play better,”Miles said. “It will be really interesting to see how this team responds.”

LSU will have little time to dwell on its forth conference loss of the season, as the Tigers play Arkansas in Little Rock on Friday to finish out the regular season.