LSU's infamous 'mercy knee' game, revisited: Stats, highlights from Tigers win vs. Ole Miss

Twelve years ago, LSU’s perceived mercy against Ole Miss turned out to be almost disrespectful.

The 2011 Tigers were well on their way to a 13-0 start to their season. Though they did not win the BCS national championship, they are still considered one of the top teams to never win a national title. So it was no surprise when Les Miles' top-ranked team ultimately jumped to a 52-3 lead over the Rebels on the road on Nov. 19, 2011.

As bad as the beatdown vs. Houston Nutt's Rebels were, LSU somehow found a way to make the loss even worse: The Tigers ventured to Ole Miss' 1-yard line and, facing first-and-goal with several minutes still remaining, opted instead for four consecutive kneel downs to turn the ball over on purpose.

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Kneeling on the ball with the game already out of reach isn’t rare. But LSU did so with over five minutes left in the game. The Tigers burned nearly two minutes of clock while on Ole Miss’ 1-yard line before the Rebels took over possession with three minutes remaining.

Here’s a rundown of the eye-popping stats from the 2011 Magnolia Bowl:

LSU's 'mercy knee' vs. Ole Miss, revisited

LSU took over at the Rebels' 1-yard line with 5:10 left to play. The Tigers knelt four straight times, giving the Rebels the ball back with exactly 3:00 left on the clock, per ESPN's play-by-play breakdown. They never got the ball back, with Ole Miss running out the remainder of the game after traversing 27 yards in six plays.

Speaking after the game, Miles had this to say of the "mercy" vs. Ole Miss:

"Victory was assured," Miles said. "There was no reason to take snaps at that point."

Indeed, the game was already over, mathematically speaking, just 28 seconds into the game: Defensive back Ron Brooks intercepted a pass for a touchdown, giving the Tigers a 7-0 lead and eclipsing by himself the Rebels' points total vs. LSU. By the end of the first quarter, the Tigers led 21-0. By halftime, it was 35-3.

Here are some more aspects of LSU's dominance in the 52-3 victory:

LSU threw only eight passes

The Tigers completed a perfect eight of eight pass attempts that night: seven from starter Jordan Jefferson — Justin Jefferson’s older brother — and one from backup Jarrett Lee. Eventual starting quarterback Zach Mettenberger also played, but didn’t throw a pass.

On a night with such a dominant run game, LSU hardly needed the air to move the chains, despite boasting eventual NFL receivers Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis Landry and Russell Shepard and Reuben Randle.

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LSU combined for 50 rushes

LSU didn't need to air it out considering its dominance in the ground game: A whopping nine different Tigers players combined for 353 yards and four touchdowns on 50 rushes (averaging 7.1 yards per carry). Alfred Blue led the team with four rushes for 74 yards.

Here’s a breakdown of the individual rushing numbers:

• Blue: four carries for 74 yards

• Spencer Ware: 10 carries for 70 yards and a touchdown

• Kenny Hilliard: nine carries for 59 yards and a touchdown

• Terrance Magee: seven carries for 55 yards

• Michael Ford: five carries for 50 yards and a touchdown

• Jordan Jefferson: six carries for 26 yards

• Zach Mettenberger: one carry for 25 yards

• Odell Beckham Jr.: one carry for 4 yards

• James Stampley: three carries for 2 yards and a touchdown

Ole Miss offensive stats

The Tigers were equally as dominant on defense, limiting the Rebels to just 198 offensive yards on the game. Surprisingly, the majority of that yardage came on the ground, with the Rebels credited for 148 rushing yards on the day.

Quarterback Barry Brunetti ran 15 times for 74 yards, tying Blue for the game's most rushing yards. Brandon Bolden finished second on the Rebels' team with 58 rushing yards, while Enrique Davis added 41. Nick Brassell and Zack Stoudt each had negative rushing yards, however, combining for minus-25 yards.

Despite throwing 19 passes on the game, Ole Miss only completed as many passes as LSU: eight. The Rebels combined to complete 8 of 19 passes for a dismal 76 yards and one interception.

What happened to Ole Miss head coach Houston Nutt?

The Rebels finished 2-10 that season before both of their wins were vacated in 2019 as part of a 33-game vacation across six seasons due to allowing participation by ineligible players.

The game marked coach Houston Nutt’s last season of coaching. He had already announced his resignation earlier that November.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Revisiting LSU's infamous 'mercy knee' game vs. Ole Miss