BATON ROUGE — There have been many great LSU-Ole Miss storylines throughout the years. There’s been the Billy Cannon 89-yard punt return that sealed up the Heisman for the Tiger in 1959. There was the night the Tigers thrashed Archie Manning and the Rebels, 61-17, in Tiger Stadium in 1970. There’s even been a game in which time stood still as Bert Jones completed a touchdown pass to Brad Davis in a controversial 17-16 win by the Tigers in 1972.
Saturday’s game between the third-ranked Tigers and 15th-ranked Ole Miss has all of the makings of another classic battle between these two Southeastern Conference rivals. Kickoff for Saturday’s contest is set for 2:30 p.m. in Oxford. A national audience will watch on CBS as the Tigers and Rebels battle as ranked foes for the first time since 1970.
While it’s hard not to get caught up in all of the hype for Saturday’s contest, the math is simple: a win by Ole Miss clinches the SEC Western Division title for the Rebels. A win by the Tigers, coupled with a victory over Arkansas in next week’s SEC finale, puts LSU in the league’s championship game. The Tigers, at No. 4 in the Bowl Championship Series standings, still have an outside shot at a chance in the national title game, but they must run the table to keep that chance alive.
LSU enters the contest with a 9-1 overall mark and a 5-1 SEC record. The Rebels, winners of six straight, are 8-2 overall and 6-0 in league play. Overall, the teams enter the game with a combined winning streak of 10 straight. Last year, LSU used a late fourth-quarter rally to post a 14-13 win over the Rebels in Baton Rouge.
“This is an opportunity for our team to win 10 games and I know there have not been a whole lot of LSU teams do that, so it is certainly something that this team would like to accomplish,” LSU coach Nick Saban said earlier in the week. “Ole Miss has a very good team and they are the top scoring team in our league and have one of the best offensive teams in the country with an outstanding quarterback in Eli Manning.
“This is certainly going to be a challenging game for us and it is a game that, like I always say, we want to bring our “A” game and take it one game at a time. We want to do the best we can to prepare our players in terms of what is and it is the game that is this week. It is a very important game because when you win, the next game is always a big game.”
Saturday’s matchup will feature two of the SEC’s best quarterbacks in LSU’s Matt Mauck and Ole Miss’ Eli Manning. Manning leads the SEC in passing yards (2,881) and touchdowns (23), while Mauck is first in the league in pass efficiency (154.1 rating) and second in TDs (21). Mauck’s 21 touchdown passes rank as the second-highest single-season total in LSU history.
“Matt has slowly and progressively matured and improved each and every time he has had the opportunity to and he has really played well in the last four games”, Saban said.
Ole Miss defensive coordinator Chuck Driesbach said of Mauck, “he’s a great operator. He manages the game well, like Eli does for us. He understands their system, he knows where he’s going with the ball and he doesn’t make mistakes.”
Over LSU’s last four games, all Tiger victories, Mauck has completed 83 of 114 passes for 985 yards and 11 touchdowns. In addition, he’s guided an LSU offense to an average of 35 points and 497 yards over the Tigers’ last four games.
Saturday’s contest will also pit one of the nation’s top defenses in LSU against the SEC’s most potent offense. The Tigers enter the Ole Miss game ranked No. 1 in the nation in scoring defense (8.9 points per game), second in the nation against the run (60.8 yards per game) and fourth in the country in total defense (259.7 yards per game). LSU is the only team in the nation that has yet to allow 20 or more points in a game this season.
Ole Miss, on the other hand, is averaging a league-best 36.6 points per game to go along with 459.6 yards of total offense a contest.
“There is no doubt that Eli Manning is one of the top quarterbacks in the country and no question one of the couple of guys who should receive the highest consideration to win the Heisman Trophy,” Saban said. “They have good players around him and their receivers and their offensive line are both very talented and they are playing very well.”