Ole Miss sneaks past LSU in a crazy finish

The #10 LSU Tigers and Mississippi played a less-than-thrilling 57 minutes to start the game, but the final three minutes gave football fans plenty of excitement. Ole Miss led LSU 25-17 with 3:32 left and the LSU offense marched down field and scored a TD with 1:23 left in the game. LSU tried for two points and failed, but then things got really interesting.

LSU’s kicker Josh Jasper kicked a perfect onside kick that was recovered by Brandon LaFell on LSU’s 42 yard line with 1:17 left.

At this point…

-LSU had two timeouts left and

-Jasper kicked a 50-yard FG earlier in the game

LSU ran a receiver screen on 2nd and 10 which gained them 26 yards and took the ball down to the Ole Miss 32 yard line, more or less in Jasper’s range. Jordan Jefferson threw an incomplete pass, then was sacked at the Ole Miss 41. LSU used their second timeout and talked about a play for third down. That play was a RB screen to Stevan Ridley, with no blocking in front of Ridely, and LSU lost another seven yards. LSU didn’t call a timeout for 17 seconds after that tackle, giving them a 4th and 26 on the Ole Miss 48. 4th and 26 reminded me of Donovan McNabb to Freddie Mitchell against Green Bay in the 2004 playoff game. With nine seconds left, Jefferson heaved a pass down field and Terrance Tolliver came down with the pass at the Ole Miss 5 yard line with one second left. Here is where the controversy began…

LSU seemed confused on what to do and the clock ran out on them without getting a play off. CBS Broadcasters Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson were screaming at LSU to get their field goal unit out there to try and win the game.

Here are my thoughts…

1. LSU wasted 17 seconds after Ridley was tackled, that’s inexcusable

2. On 2nd and 10, Jordan Jefferson stepped back in the pocket, when he should have stepped up, resulting in a sack

3. Why didn’t LSU have a plan if they made a first down on 4th and 26?

4. Finally, who’s to say they would have even gotten the field goal off before the clock would have expired

That said, what Jefferson should have done was to call a play at the line the second he realized the field goal crew wasn’t going to come out. He panicked, as well as the coaching staff, as if they hadn’t planned for the first down scenario. This is not the first time this year Head Coach Les Miles has been accused of clock management issues and this one will haunt Miles for the near future.

Ole Miss Head Coach Houston Nutt has beaten LSU four straight times, with the first two wins coming from his time at Arkansas.

Aside from the final couple of minutes, LSU was significantly outgained 426-290, not really a surprise. Ole Miss RB Dexter McCluster shredded LSU’s defense and Ole Miss lived on the big play on offense. Jordan Jefferson played decent in his return to QB after missing last week’s game. LSU didn’t have much of a run game, and to add injury to insult, RB Keiland Williams went down with what appeared to be a serious ankle injury at the beginning of the 4th quarter.

This was a deflating game to watch as LSU made some spectacular plays, but struggled in some of the most fundamental aspects of the game. LSU lost for the first time in Ole Miss for the first time since 1998.

Up next is the finale of the regular season against Arkansas in Baton Rouge with a 6PM kickoff.