Nov. 19, 2011

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OXFORD, Miss. (AP) -- Quarterback Barry Brunetti rushed for 74 yards on 15 carries, but Ole Miss fell to No. 1 LSU 52-3 here Saturday on senior night at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

Ron Brooks returned an interception for a touchdown 28 seconds into the game, LSU built a 35-3 lead by halftime and rushed for 353 yards.

Quarterback Jordan Jefferson started his second consecutive game, completing 7 of 7 passes for 88 yards and a touchdown. Alfred Blue led the Tigers with 74 rushing yards while Spencer Ware added 70 yards and a touchdown.

Ole Miss (2-9, 0-7) has lost six straight games and a school-record 13 straight conference games. Barry Brunetti rushed for a team-high 74 yards as the Rebels managed just 195 total yards.

LSU completed all eight of its pass attempts - seven by Jefferson and one by Jarrett Lee - but was content to run the ball for most of the game after building a 21-0 lead with 5:11 remaining in the first quarter.

Kenny Hilliard rushed for 59 yards and a touchdown and Terrence Magee added 55 yards as LSU emptied its bench early and recovered from a lackluster effort in last week's 42-9 win against Western Kentucky. Seven different players rushed for at least 25 yards and the Tigers averaged nearly eight yards per play.

The already outmanned Rebels were further crippled when Nutt suspended starting quarterback Randall Mackey and leading rusher Jeff Scott for violating team rules. Without them, the game turned ugly in a hurry.

Ole Miss started with the ball, and its first three plays were a disaster. Starting quarterback Zack Stoudt bounced an incompletion on the first play, Brandon Bolden dropped the next pass and then Stoudt threw a wild lob on a screen pass that was picked off by Brooks and returned 46 yards for a touchdown.

"You can't start the game the way we started, especially with a team like that," Nutt said. "The No. 1 team in the nation, you can't give them gifts. One thing we didn't want to do was turnovers, especially when they get seven points off the bat. That was the worst thing that could happen. They're a really good football team. They're a good football team, but we helped them."

It never improved for the Rebels, who are 0-2 since it was announced on Nov. 7 that Nutt would not return for a fifth season. Nutt agreed to stay for the remainder of the season, and now Ole Miss must win next week's game against Mississippi State to avoid its first 10-loss season in program history.

The Rebels' lone score came on a 39-yard field goal by Bryson Rose, which was set up by Brunetti's 47-yard run.