Officially, 102,212 people packed Tiger Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 12 to watch LSU’s thrilling come-from-behind victory over the No. 9-ranked Ole Miss Rebels in overtime.
Here are four positive takeaways from the game:
LSU’s Offense Showed Resiliency
The entire first half was one in which LSU’s offense struggled to get touchdowns. Everytime they approached the 30-yard-line, either a penalty or bad play caused them to attempt a kick, but it didn’t rattle them.
“The way they never blinked,” Tigers Head Coach Brian Kelly told reporters after the game. “They were down viftually the whole game. t/hey just kept playing. There was no frustration. It would have been easy for our offense to get frustrated, not getting touchdowns, but they just kept plodding along.”
LSU’s Defensive Effort Was A+
It’s no doubt that Ole Miss had their chances to blow the game open in the early going. On the first possession, Rebels wide receiver Tre Harris dropped a sure touchdown reception. On the next drive, Ole Miss missed a field goal.
From there, the Tigers defense began to wake up and stop Ole Miss from establishing any type of rhythm for most of the night. Although LSU’s defense gave up 464 total yards, in the second half and overtime combined, Ole Miss could only muster 9 points.
Garrett Nussmeier Had His Worst Game — And Still One
First-year starter Garrett Nussmeier was a horrible 22 of 51 on his passes for the night, constantly throwing into double and triple coverage. He also tossed two costly interceptions — but he also threw three touchdowns.
“I will sit here and say that I probalby had the worst game of my career here tonight. I will openly say that, he told reporters after the game. “The best part about it is I get to learn from it and we got a win.”
It says a lot about a kid and a team that can muster the kind of fight to play through that kind of game, especially trailing except for the very end.
No Sacks Allowed
Although Nussmeier was hurried a handful of times, LSU’s offensive line didn’t allow a sack. Nuss is not fleet of foot, but he evaded passrushers time and time again as the Rebels’ powerful front four swarmed around him.
Conversely, Rebels quarterback Jaxson Dart was sacked six times.
Check out LSU’s 2024 football schedule.
