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By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN
On a night that required 4 intense quarters, a quick overtime, over 5 hours running time, and a myriad of reviews to settle, the 2024 edition of LSU vs Ole Miss will forever be an instant, brutal classic.
In what was yet another epic all time atmosphere & moment to add to Tiger Stadium's 100 Year history, LSU survived all the odds to topple Lane Kiffin's top 10 Ole Miss squad 29-26, taking their first lead of the game on the final play, Garrett Nussmeier's precise pass over the top of two defenders for WR Kyren Lacy, rising above & coming down with the game sealing play.....sending scores of fans emptying their seats and on to the field.
Symbolizing the season thus far for 2024 LSU, the Tigers vs Ole Miss turned into a marathon of adversity for Brian Kelly and Co, with Ole Miss in control for most of proceedings, Nussmeier throwing 2 interceptions while playing his least convincing first 3 quarters of any start in his career. Subsequently, Kiffin's Rebels took advantage of LSU's wasted possessions and grabbed an early double digit lead in commanding style.
Things looked beyond shaky offensively for LSU throughout the entire first half (33 rushing yards at halftime, 84 total after 4 1/2 quarters, 0 catches for Mason Taylor, errant / erratic throws by Nuss), even still, Ole Miss' own missed opportunities kept the Tigers in it (leaving at least 10 1st quarter points on the field, from a missed field goal and Tre Harris dropping a wide open 60+ yard would-be TD, while being flagged for 12 total penalties).
However, the lion's share of credit for keeping LSU in the game, as well as for ultimately winning it, must go to Blake Baker's defense.
Thanks to a powerhouse showing by first year defensive coordinator Blake Baker's defensive unit, sending blitzes from all over the field (safeties, linebackers, corners et. al), Lane Kiffin's offense failed to generate touchdowns (just 2), and were forced to attempt 5 field goals during the game: LSU's defense broke up 11 passes, pounced for 9 tackles for loss, 6 sacks, forced 2 turnovers, and supplied 25 pressures on Jaxson Dart over 4 quarters plus overtime.
Surely about to be named SEC Defensive Player of the Week, linebacker Whit Weeks continues his special, spellbinding sophomore campaign, racking up a ridiculous 18 tackles (10 in the 1st half alone), 2 QB pressures, 2 TFLs, 1 FF, 1 PBU, 1 sack and a whole lot of high impact warfare on every play, stuffing the stat sheet like some kind of otherworldly madman...truly covering every single blade of grass out there on Saturday night.
Without getting into any hyperbole, just pure opinion here, LSUOdyssey feels without a doubt it's obvious for everyone to see at this point: Whit Weeks is a superstar and the best linebacker at LSU since Devin White left before the 2019 season.....and it's insane we get another year and a half of watching this kid develop....
Causing havoc on damn nearly every single one of his 73 snaps, DE Bradyn Swinson sacked Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart twice on Saturday night for his 3rd multi-sack performance of 2024 (7 sacks on the season) adding 8 tackles, 6 pressures, 2.5 TFLs, 2 batted passes and 3 pressures that forced incompletions and disrupted plays....completely blowing up Ole Miss' offensive line with total brutality & authority...
Swinson is an upcoming All-American / 1st round pick, proving it yet again on the biggest stage of the year thus far.
Cornerback Zy Alexander faced 10 passes his way, only allowed 4 catches for a paltry 27 total yards, 0 scores, forced 3 incompletions through sticky coverage, intercepted a critical pass in the red zone (his 3rd INT of 2024, 2nd inside the red zone), batted down 1 pass, dropped another interception, and jarred another near reception loose with a hit....
These Tigers weren't alone, supported by a lengthy cast of contributors at different points: true freshman DT Dominick McKinley recovering Whit Weeks' forced fumble right before halftime (a play which directly added 3 points to the scoreboard for LSU), versatile defensive end Da'Shawn Womack batting his 4th pass of the season while sharing a sack alongside DT Gio Paez; after years of criticism as a starter, Major Burns played arguably his best game as an LSU Tiger: blitzed at will at the line of scrimmage by Blake Baker for 3 QB pressures, 2.5 TFLs, 1.5 Sacks, 1 forced fumble; sophomore cornerback Ashton Stamps breaking up 3 passes at cornerback during a pivotal performance, battling against a few missed plays and recovering to lockdown his side of the field....there were many Tigers playing high octane defensive football on Saturday night.
Battling every play.....this defense, up against the wall, put in terrible situations time after time by their profligate offense wasting possessions & turning the ball over in their own territory, continued to fight, scratch, claw and drag their feet on every Ole Miss play...refusing to give an inch down inside the red zone.
It was a brilliant team defensive performance, despite allowing nearly 500 yards of offense, 50% from 3rd down, allowing 5.5 yards per play & 11.8 per completion, the Tigers' defense never bent the knee inside the red zone, forcing field goals, denying touchdowns, and generally making every play difficult or painful, for Jaxson Dart, Lane Kiffin and Co.
It was a game of lengthy reviews, including a targeting call on Whit Weeks that was luckily, justly overturned...probably the most prudent refereeing regarding targeting I've ever seen.....a touchdown grab by Zavion Thomas was also overturned after evidence seemed to show the nose of the ball hit the ground, there was no shortage of time-draining, nerve-wracking dramatics....all during one of the hardest hitting games of the season, definitely the most physical since LSU faced off vs USC in Vegas.
It was a night where Garrett Nussmeier battled against the adversity we mentioned just earlier, playing his worst game of the season and yet, still tossing 337 yards, 3 TDs and delivering victory against a top 10 team....all of which casts aside his poor 22/51 passing marks, numerous errant throws & hero balls, or 2 interceptions.
My friend Logan Graffia compared Nussmeier's performance to Brett Favre, going for the home run ball on almost every play, launching it downfield with complete abandon.....and I must say, I agree for the most part....however, Nuss still reined it in enough to execute precision passes when LSU needed it most:
Facing a 4th quarter 4th and 6, just around 3 minutes left, only 2 timeouts remaining, the game hanging in the balance of this play, a do or die scenario, a total last chance saloon moment, Nussmeier hung in the pocket and delivered a strike to Mason Taylor for the conversion to keep the Tigers alive..............at that moment, whether you wanted to pick apart his poor passing day or interceptions, the only thing that truly mattered is the result Nuss delivered for LSU, making it happen with "cold as ice" plays such as the 4th and 6 strike to Taylor.
Then, later on that same drive, Nuss completed a big 3rd and 13 to Taylor once again for the conversion, followed up by the ultimate, insane theatrics of Aaron Anderson's game-tying touchdown on 4th and 5 with 23 seconds left in the game, a play that was as terrifying as it was magical.
Anderson continued his overwhelming WRU brilliance in 2024, racking up 81 yards, 3 catches and 1 TD (2 of those catches arriving on 3rd or 4th down, including one grab that earlier went for 46).
Kyren Lacy recorded his second straight 100 yard game, recording 111 yards on 5 catches, topped off by his game-winning overtime touchdown reception....a play that will live forever in Tiger Stadium history, sending Ole Miss defenders flipping upside down in their acrobatic will to stop Lacy.
What does it all mean???
That's impossible to even encapsulate what it all means right now....but we'll try.
Saturday night vs Ole Miss was a microcosm of the season.....a game filled with one shocking, stirring, bewildering moment after another, LSU up against the wall facing all kinds of adversity, and yet in the end, this 2024 LSU squad has something special about it.....it's not the pristine, perfection of 2019....it's not the otherworldly offense of 2023....
.....there is something ugly about this team, and in that ugliness lies the most beautiful of footballing intangibles...some of which LSU has been missing for a few years: Grit, Intensity, Hunger, Togetherness, an iron will that can traverse all manner of hellish adversity in pursuit of victory....
2024 LSU is gradually becoming a cross between 2018's perseverance preamble & 2007's ability to win close games by the finest of margins, often thanks to the clutchest of plays within the most hostile or pressure-filled environments.
Somewhere caught up in the blood-stained agony, lying amid this team's tooth-pulling, heart-attacking, pulse-strobing trajectory, a path where nothing is perfect, nothing is easy, and every turn or bend in the road is marked by the casualties of their toil, I can identify an overwhelming will to win that has now reared its head once again......and who the hell can contend with that???
All that matters at the end of the day?
The result.
Instead of worrying or even being capable of padding offensive stats, dropping 40-50 points per game, or named as the darlings of the SEC, this team is great at one thing above all: surviving their own mistakes or injury absences and in turn punishing their opponents' own errors & MIAs....all while dragging results over the line.
2024 LSU are a bunch of result merchants......results uber alles.
by LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN
@LonnPhillips
Copyright 2024 Uninterrupted Writings Inc
Like always Lonn, you are in the money with all these comments. I will say. This O Line is an amazing pass blocking machine. If Nuss would be willing to run even two or three times a game, the offense would be even more effective.