The Ole Miss Rebels offense fails in costly moments against LSU

The Ole Miss Rebels suffered another heartbreaking loss at LSU on Saturday, and while the offense put up big numbers, the stats don't tell the whole story.

Both the Rebels and Tigers started slow as they were both held scoreless in the first quarter, including the Rebels' first missed chances of the game.

Jaxson Dart looked down and hit Tre Harris with speed for what looked like an 81-yard touchdown catch-and-run, but Harris dropped the ball and Ole Miss came up empty. They would eventually make a three-and-out and punt.

The Rebels' next possession looked promising as they advanced to the LSU 15-yard line before being stopped and attempting a 32-yard field goal by kicker Caden Davis, which he missed.

The Rebs' defense rallied and forced a wild interception that was evaded before ending up in the hands of Jamarious Brown. However, the offense was unable to capitalize and turned the ball over on downs.

The rest of the half went well for the Rebels, except for a fumble that resulted in a field goal for LSU with 26 seconds left in their own 30, cutting the lead to four at halftime.

“These things catch up with you,” head coach Lane Kiffin said after the game. “That’s why I felt like we were going to outdo them. We were the better team for most of the game, but again, you have to eliminate them. We left a lot of points there and were still ahead afterwards.” With the ball in the fourth quarter.

Early in the second half, the Rebels were back on the march when Dart threw a pass downfield that was intercepted in the end zone, once again snuffing out the Rebels' momentum. Ole Miss would hold the lead until LSU's final drive of the fourth quarter, when the game went into overtime after some late heroics from the Tigers.

Ole Miss had a chance to tie the game in the second half, but was only able to make two field goals in the final two quarters of the game and one in overtime. This led to LSU's comeback and eventual overtime victory.

“Overtime should never have happened,” Kiffin said. “We should have ended it when we had the ball with four and had a chance to go down and score two points. Similar to the Kentucky game, we put ourselves in a much more difficult situation.”

“Really disappointed, of course. We should win the game. We controlled the game most of the way, but they deserve credit for playing in the fourth quarter and overtime.”

Kiffin was asked after the game how he thought he and the team handled the environment in Baton Rouge, but he doesn't think it played as big a role as the opportunities the Rebels themselves missed on Saturday.

“It's an electric atmosphere, great crowd,” Kiffin said, “but they don't block, they don't tackle, they don't drop the ball, they don't miss shots. We have to make plays and.” Coach better because we should have won that game. They're a good team, we're a good team, but we should have won that game.

“I don’t understand how we lost,” quarterback Jaxson Dart said. “I never had a feeling we were going to lose until it happened.”

The Rebels' offense played well statistically despite the loss (464 total yards), but missing some big opportunities ultimately led to their second crushing loss in just three weeks. They now head into a bye week and prepare to return home against Oklahoma in two weeks.