BATON ROUGE — There’s no way around it. Saturday night is going to sting for a long, long while in Ole Miss’ locker room.
LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier threw a game-winning 25-yard touchdown pass to Kyren Lacy in overtime at Tiger Stadium, and No. 13 LSU defeated No. 9 Ole Miss 29-26. Nussmeier also threw the game-tying touchdown pass with 27 seconds left in regulation on fourth down to send the game to overtime. The Rebels were looking for their first win in Baton Rouge since 2008.
The Rebels have lost two of their last three games overall by a combined six points. Ole Miss was flagged for 12 penalties Saturday.
“I just said, ‘This sucks, guys. I feel for you.’ It’s a hard one, and you have a bye, you don’t get to play again,” Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin said. “So, I don’t really have a lot of positive for you. Just because it’s like, it’s easier if you get beat by a couple scores. This is our game, and we have the game, and we let it slip away.
“ … These are hard. This one will be around forever.”
Ole Miss (5-2, 1-2 SEC) led the nation in sacks heading into Saturday’s game. LSU’s vaunted offensive line, headlined by tackles Will Campbell and Emery Jones Jr., did not allow a sack.
Rebels senior wide receiver Tre Harris — the national leader in receiving yards who left last weekend’s game with an injury — played against the Tigers (5-1, 2-0) and finished with seven catches for 102 yards and an acrobatic touchdown catch. He did not have a reception after the midway point in the third quarter, however, and was not in the game late.
Ole Miss did not trail in Saturday’s game until Nussmeier’s overtime touchdown pass.
“I don’t understand how we lost,” Ole Miss senior quarterback Jaxson Dart said. “I just never felt like we were going to lose until it happened.”
For the first time this season, the Rebels started the game on defense and forced a three-and-out on the Tigers’ opening drive. Dart threw a deep strike to Harris on the Rebels’ first offensive possession that would have netted a big gain, but the sure-handed senior was unable to come up with the catch. The Rebels forced another Tigers punt and drove to the 20-yard line before senior Caden Davis eventually missed a field goal.
A 47-yard catch from Harris eventually led to another try from Davis, and the senior didn’t miss, calmly knocking in a 49-yard field goal for the game’s first points early in the second. Senior running back Ulysses Bentley IV — who entered the game with 62 yards this season on 16 carries — broke through the line of scrimmage on fourth-and-1 and sprinted 50 yards to the end zone, the longest run of the season for the Rebels. Bentley finished with 107 yards on 11 carries overall, and the Rebels outrushed LSU 180-84.
LSU (5-1, 2-0) responded with its first points, coming by way of a 12-yard touchdown pass from Nussmeier to Trey’Dez Green. Ole Miss got the ball one more time in the half and made the most of it, finishing off a 75-yard drive with Harris’ touchdown grab.
LSU kicked a 33-yard field goal late in the second quarter and got an additional possession after senior running back Henry Parrish Jr. fumbled at the Rebels’ 28. LSU then hit another field goal to make it a four-point game at halftime.
Ole Miss had two first-quarter drives end inside the LSU 15 and result in no points.
“We had so many chances to win this game,” Dart, who finished 24 of 42 passing for 284 yards, a touchdown and an interception, said. “And we just didn’t do it.”
The Rebels started the second half with the ball but wound up punting after penalties resulted in a fourth-and-29. A 46-yard pass from Nussmeier to Aaron Anderson set LSU up at the Ole Miss 30, but Damian Ramos missed his eventual 46-yard field goal try. The teams exchanged field goals late in the third to make it 20-16.
Dart found sophomore Cayden Lee on fourth-and-1 near midfield for a gain of 33 early in the fourth quarter, setting the Rebels up deep in LSU territory. Dart was eventually intercepted in the end zone but, on the ensuing LSU possession, Nussmeier was intercepted by senior cornerback Trey Amos. Lee finished with a career-high 132 yards.
Davis hit a 37-yard field goal with just over three minutes left in regulation to increase the Rebels’ lead back to seven. On fourth-and-6 with 32 seconds to play, Nussmeier found tight end Mason Taylor to keep the Tigers’ drive alive and allow for the tying scoring toss, a 23-yard strike to Anderson. LSU converted two fourth-down conversions on the drive.
The Rebels started overtime with the ball but moved backward by way of penalties and eventually settled for a 57-yard Davis field goal attempt. Davis knocked it right down the middle to momentarily give Ole Miss the lead back. Nussmeier threw the winning touchdown on the first play of LSU’s overtime possession. He finished 22 of 51 passing for 337 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.
“I think everybody’s feeling bad. We work very hard to produce and win games like this,” senior safety Trey Washington said. “So when you come up short, it’s very frustrating.”
Ole Miss has its first bye of the season this week before hosting Oklahoma on Oct. 26.
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