Three takeaways from the Rebels’ devastating loss to LSU

Ole Miss suffered its first loss of the season after falling to the LSU Tigers 45-20. Here are the key takeaways from the game.

Injuries

Adding injury to insult, Ole Miss lost a pair of key defenders on Saturday afternoon as linebacker Troy Brown and safety A.J. Finley went down with injuries. Though the extent of the damage remains unknown, this will be a huge blow to the Rebels if they miss any time. Brown and Finley are the team’s top two tacklers with 105 tackles between the two of them, while the next three players on the list have a total of 109. Both Brown and Finley are crucial pieces of the defense in coverage, and they are adept in zone coverage and show playmaking ability.

Ole Miss takes to the road again next week to play Texas A&M. Both Brown and Finley will be crucial in stopping yet another quarterback who can make plays with his feet.

And on the offensive side of the ball, running back Zach Evans was sidelined with a knee injury, which put a lot of the offensive load on Quinshon Judkins.

Offensive Line Struggles

This was the first game of the season in which the offensive line truly struggled. Though they allowed just three sacks, Jaxson Dart faced constant pressure and was forced into bad throws. The young quarterback was forced out of his timing and spent much of the game with LSU defenders draped all over him. Though this unit has been rock solid all year, they were the center of the offense’s lack of production this week.

Defense

This is getting out of hand. Ole Miss needs to fix the defensive issues fast. Our base 3-2-6 package has done nothing against strong competition so far, allowing over 31 points per game against SEC opponents this season.

Consistently having just three defensive lineman is an open invitation for teams to run the ball (averaging 233 rushing yards per game over the last three games). Offensive lines can carve up our front in the run game, quarterbacks have free lanes to step up and scramble against our consistent three-man pass rushes and cornerbacks are regularly lined up 10 yards off the ball in short yardage situations.

All of this disorganization reared its ugly head on one particular play with 10:37 on the clock in the third quarter when LSU had a fourth-and-one on the Ole Miss 29 yard line. The Rebels defense ran out their typical 3-2-6 defensive scheme and surrendered an eight-yard run where the first contact was made at the 24 yard line. That is unacceptable.

Nickel Defense Package

For those curious, this is what an alternate defensive lineup would look like. (Starters in italics).

EDGE: Tavius Robinson, Jared Ivey (Rotate C. Johnson)
DT: J.J. Pegues, K.D. Hill (Rotate I. Iton)
LB: Troy Brown, Austin Keys (Rotate K. Coleman, A. Cistrunk)