As Ole Miss faces a mounting list of defensive injuries, it’ll have the task of slowing down another explosive offensive as No. 6 LSU rolls into Oxford.
LSU and Texas A&M are currently tied for first in the SEC and third in the NCAA with 126 plays of more than 10 yards.
The Aggies are led by Johnny Manziel, who head coach Hugh Freeze said was “as tough to defend as anything I’ve ever seen,” but the Tigers pose a different threat led by three playmakers.
Junior wide receivers Odell Beckham and Jarvis Landry have been phenomenal for LSU all season. They enter this weekend’s matchup third and fourth in the SEC in receiving yards per game with 104.7 yards and 96.3 yards, respectively.
They have racked those yards through big plays. Beckham and Landry are first and second in the SEC in plays of more than 10 yards.
The wide receiver tandem has combined for seven touchdowns this season. Beckham has four games with more than 100 yards receiving and Landry has three.
“They’re certainly playing to their strengths of winning one-on-one matchups on the outside when you have to load the box to stop the run,” Freeze said of LSU.
And that’s the problem for Ole Miss. Not only does LSU present two of the best receivers in the conference, but it also brings Jeremy Hill, the best running back in the SEC.
Hill is second in the conference with 119.2 rush yards per game, although he didn’t play in the season opener against TCU and had just six carries in the Tigers’ second game against UAB.
He has nine rushing touchdowns, tied for the conference lead. He has a touchdown every 10.9 carries.
Hill also brings the big play ability to this Tiger offense. Hill is fourth in the SEC with 26 plays of 10 yards or more. Beckham, Landry and Hill have combined for 91 plays of 10 yards or more, which is more than 77 teams in the NCAA, including Ole Miss with 90.
They have also combined for 39 plays of over 20 yards, which is more than 112 teams in the NCAA.
Since LSU can pick up yards in a hurry on the ground and through the air, Ole Miss won’t be able to give its cornerbacks a lot of help every play.
“You’re going to be put on an island quite a bit and you’re not going to win all of those,” Freeze said. “Our goal will be to try to limit the amount of explosive plays that they have.”
Ole Miss has allowed 84 plays of 10 yards or more, tied for sixth fewest in the SEC. Against Texas A&M, it allowed 23 plays of 10 yards or more, 15 of which came in the second half.
A key for the big plays LSU has had this season has been the improved play of Tiger quarterback Zach Mettenberger.
He has improved his completion percentage from 59 percent last season to 67 percent this season. He has already thrown 15 touchdowns, second most in the SEC; last year he had just 12 touchdown passes.
Mettenberger hasn’t thrown an interception on third down this year, but last year he threw four of his seven picks on third down. His 10.9 yards per attempt is tops in the SEC and third in the NCAA.
“Mettenberger’s not missing many open receivers when he has them,” Freeze said. “He’s making very good throws and managing the game extremely well.”
He’s doing more than managing the Tiger offense. Through seven games, Mettenberger already has 39 pass plays of more than 20 yards. Last season, in 13 games, he had 44 pass plays of that distance.
Unlike the threat Manziel posed with his feet, Mettenberger doesn’t present any running threat. Mettenberger has amassed -47 rushing yards this season. His season high was last week when he ran for 1 yard on two carries. Ole Miss won’t have to commit a player or two in order to spy on the quarterback, as it did against Texas A&M, which will allow Ole Miss to cover the weapons of the Tigers better.
Ole Miss wraps up its brutal stretch of games with the most diverse offense it’ll face all season. It is a difficult test, but one Ole Miss will have to pass to avoid a four-game losing streak.
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