Nov. 16, 2012

FRIDAY FLASHBACK rewinds to some of the memorable Ole Miss games from this week's all-time series. This week features the Rebels' 31-13 upset win over No. 18 LSU in 2008.

Confident Rebels overwhelm Tigers with crisp offense, physical D

By David Brandt
The Clarion-Ledger

November 23, 2008

BATON ROUGE - With Ole Miss playing its best football in years, there was an understanding that the Rebels - if they played almost perfectly - could come out of Tiger Stadium on Saturday and pull off an upset.

But this result? A 31-13 domination of No. 18-ranked LSU in front of an announced crowd of 92,649 at the place they called Death Valley?

It was almost hard to believe from an outside perspective. But not to those on the inside. Not at all.

“When players truly believe,” said Ole Miss offensive coordinator Kent Austin, “they change.”

And that was evident on Saturday as the Rebels rolled into Baton Rouge and whipped LSU with physical front lines on both sides of the ball and the accurate arm of quarterback Jevan Snead.

It’s the team’s fourth straight win and puts them in line for an even better bowl destination.

“When we get going like that,” UM receiver Mike Wallace said, “I’m not sure there is anybody that can stop us.”

Ole Miss (7-4, 4-3 Southeastern Conference) never trailed, scoring on its first drive when Snead hit Wallace on a 34-yard touchdown pass.

And the deadeye sophomore was just getting started.

By the end of the day, he had completed 16-of-25 passes for 274 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, showing command and accuracy with his deep throws that hadn’t been seen in weeks.

On the Rebels’ third touchdown drive, he was at top form with back-to-back precision passes.

First, it was a perfect 20-yard strike to Dexter McCluster on the sideline. Then, a soft lob to Markeith Summers down the same sideline for 33 yards. Finally he hit Wallace with a 26-yard touchdown on the fade route.

For Austin it was fun to watch.

“I just sip on my coke and keep calling them,” Austin said. “Houston (Nutt, UM’s coach) put him in a great position for success.”

Said Snead: “Warming up I felt really good. I love playing in atmospheres like this. Everybody was having fun while we were playing.”

With the offense handling its business, the Ole Miss defense turned in another dominating performance. The Rebels outgained LSU (7-4, 3-4) 409-215. Led by another stellar effort by the defensive line, UM was in LSU’s backfield on seemingly every play. Ole Miss finished with four sacks and 11 tackles for a loss.

One particularly vicious hit by Peria Jerry knocked LSU quarterback Jarret Lee out of the game, forcing the Tigers to bring in true freshman Jordan Jefferson.

He did not fare much better. And LSU coach Les Miles said that was because his team was physically dominated by the Ole Miss defense.

The Tigers came into the game with the third-best rushing attack in the conference but managed only 37 yards against Ole Miss.

“They took it to our offensive line,” Miles said. “It’s just hard for me to believe that their line beat us so bad. I am going to have to see what the heck happened.”

Said Ole Miss defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix: “Our defense earned some respect tonight, playing well on a stage like this. Peria leads us and the rest of the guys follow him and came to play.”

With 15 players on the UM roster calling Louisiana home, the victory was emotional for guys like defensive end Kentrell Lockett, who every year had to endure listening to how LSU dominated the Rebels.

Until today.

“I got the championship belt now. I can go home and say whatever I want to say,” Lockett said. “It’s going to be a great Christmas.”