At the start of the season, both Mississippi and LSU were favorites to get into the postseason. Ole Miss had the experienced defense while the Tigers had the rushing machine of Leonard Fournette. However, as they two SEC rivals meet up on Saturday, both are officially out of the race. The Rebels followed up beating Alabama to losing to Arkansas and Memphis. The Tigers fell to Alabama and Arkansas in consecutive weeks. Now they are both simply hoping to bounce back as this game holds implications to the SEC Championship game.
This game will be a matchup of the best passing offense vs. one of the best physical defenses in college football. However, in recent weeks, neither unit has looked the part. The Rebels are coming off much more refreshed in a bye week while the Tigers are beat up after losing to the Razorbacks. However, both teams can make a run to Atlanta. Ole Miss must win out while Alabama would need to lose to Auburn for them to get in. The Tigers also need to win out while hoping the Crimson Tide fall to Auburn. The SEC West is far from decided at the moment.
The Rebels will look to Chad Kelly to do what he does best. The quarterback leads the SEC with 3,224 yards and 23 touchdowns through the air. He will be tossing against one of the better defenses that did get torn apart by both the Tide and the Razorbacks. Laquon Treadwell will be aiming to have a big matchup against a somewhat weaker secondary in the Tigers who let Brandon Allen throw the ball everywhere last week.
The Tigers need to get Fournette moving. The running back has dropped in the Heisman trophy rankings after getting shutdown by both Alabama and Arkansas. Fournette went into the matchup against the Tide as the favorite to win the trophy. He managed just 31 yards against Alabama while failing to bounce back with just 91 against Arkansas. He was averaging 150 yards per game in the first seven matchups. Fournette is what will get LSU a win, but the strong defensive front of Ole Miss could prevent that from happening. There is a blue print for beating the running back and they will try to follow it.