Brian Kelly makes shocking admission about last year's Ole Miss vs. LSU game ahead of rematch against Lane Kiffin
The LSU Tigers will take on the Ole Miss Rebels for the 106th time in this underrated SEC rivalry's history on Saturday (69th time in Baton Rouge). LSU holds a 64-38-3 all-time win-loss lead over Ole Miss, but this time around it's Lane Kiffin and the Rebels who are favored to win.Last year's matchup was […]
The LSU Tigers will take on the Ole Miss Rebels for the 106th time in this underrated SEC rivalry's history on Saturday (69th time in Baton Rouge). LSU holds a 64-38-3 all-time win-loss lead over Ole Miss, but this time around it's Lane Kiffin and the Rebels who are favored to win.
Last year's matchup was an epic 55-49 scoring fest that ended in victory for Ole Miss. When asked about that matchup from last year and LSU's defense in his SEC conference call with the media this week, Brian Kelly's comments were rather shocking.
Many left last year's matchup between LSU and Ole Miss blown away by the prolific offenses. It was yet another astounding performance from Jayden Daniels on his way to an eventual Heisman Trophy-winning season. Jaxson Dart of Ole Miss seemed to play near perfection at QB for the Rebels too. But Brian Kelly apparently saw things a bit differently that day, making a rather shocking admission on what that game eventually led to for both teams:
"Bad defense. That was noticeable, by both teams. I wouldn't go away saying, "Wow, that was prolific offense." I think it was bad defense by both teams. To the point where Ole Miss made changes with their personnel. We made changes with our coaching staff. So that's what lingers, right? Certainly, being up 49-40 with eight minutes to go in the game is also a reminder (as they lost 55-49). But, you know, clearly not up to the standards of what SEC defense should look like. And both teams took action."
There were other games that LSU's defense struggled, but Coach Kelly essentially admitted that it was the Ole Miss game that led the Tigers to make drastic changes to their coaching staff. And he also implied that the performance may have meant the same for Ole Miss' staff too.
Ole Miss didn't make huge changes to their defensive staff this off-season, but they did in the secondary. Lane Kiffin moved on from Keynodo Hudson who was the cornerbacks coach last year (he's now an analyst with Texas). Kiffin then hired Bryan Brown to be co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach heading into the spring.
As for LSU, they completely changed everything on the defensive side of the ball this off-season. Kelly moved on from defensive coordinator Matt House, then cleaned house with the defensive staff, replacing coaches for every single defensive group (linebackers, defensive line, cornerbacks, and safeties).
Hopefully the Ole Miss game goes a bit differently this time around on defense for LSU. Brian Kelly believes it definitely can, given the vast improvements the team has made in key areas that should help them against Ole Miss this weekend:
"There are clear statistical categories that we're better in. The first thing is, obviously, we're getting to the quarterback. We're getting off the field on third down. We're creating havoc, which we didn't do last year…We're certainly, I believe overall, a better functioning defense, and we're playing more complimentary football, and that's what you have to do…The numbers will continue to get better. The defense will continue to get better. And that will bear itself out by the end of the season."
LSU has truly come a long way in a few defensive categories vs. last season. That's not saying a ton considering they ranked outside the Top 100 in most areas last year, but clear strides have been made.
Both Bradyn Swinson and Sai'vion Jones are getting after the quarterback consistently with 15+ pressures and 5+ sacks apiece already. They're now a Top 30 power conference defense on 3rd downs. And they have dramatically increased their percentage of "havoc" plays (force fumbles, tackles for loss, sacks, passes defended, interceptions).
If LSU can actually find a way to slow down Ole Miss' hyper-efficient offense this weekend that would prove they've truly taken huge leaps towards becoming a good defense once again. Lane Kiffin's Rebels rank 2nd in yards per play and 4th in explosive play rate among all FBS teams. Brian Kelly's been preaching fundamentals and controlling pace all week long in preparation. Let's hope it's enough.
Brian Kelly’s comments on Ole Miss suggest LSU is prepared to take away key advantages in Week 7 SEC matchup
LSU ready to slow down what makes Ole Miss a real threat
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