Ole Miss football vs. LSU score prediction, scouting report: Can Lane Kiffin get his big win?
OXFORD — Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin is calling the LSU offense "maybe the hottest" in the country.
The Tigers are averaging 42.8 points per game to lead the SEC. In their two conference games so far, they've hung 41 points on Mississippi State and 34 points on Arkansas.
The star power on the LSU offense backs up Kiffin's assertion. Jayden Daniels leads SEC quarterbacks in passing yards (1,296) and ranks second in rushing yards (193). Malik Nabers' 523 receiving yards place him second in the conference. The underlying metrics are similarly complimentary. LSU leads the SEC in EPA per attempt and ranks eighth nationally. The Rebels come in second in the conference and 10th overall in the same category.
It all adds up to a big challenge for coordinator Pete Golding's defense when the Rebels (3-1, 0-1 SEC) welcome LSU (3-1, 2-0) to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Saturday (5 p.m., ESPN).
Lane Kiffin's search for a landmark Ole Miss football victory
There are several statistics we can use to express the same problem Kiffin has run into time and time again: He struggles to beat good teams.
Kiffin is 1-19 in his career as a head coach against Power Five teams that went on to win at least nine games. With Ole Miss, he is 3-7 against teams that finish the season in the AP's Top 25. That will move to 3-8 barring a collapse from Alabama, which beat Ole Miss last week. Only one of those came against an SEC program.
Attribute it to chance, scheme, talent or mentality – Kiffin's inability to occasionally take down a top program in the SEC West is a sizable obstacle between this Ole Miss program and where it wants to go.
These Tigers give Kiffin his next opportunity to overcome it. Crucially, it comes at home, where the Rebels are 14-2 since 2021. Ole Miss has beaten LSU in Baton Rouge just twice since 2000. The Rebels are 3-2 in their last five home games against the Tigers.
"We're going to have to have a great home crowd," Kiffin said. "We're going to have to play really well. We're excited about the challenge."
Can Ole Miss exploit the LSU defense?
In three games against FBS competition this season, LSU has surrendered over 30 points twice, giving up 45 points in the opener to a Florida State team that looks like the ACC's frontrunner and 31 points last week to an Arkansas team playing without Raheim Sanders.
It certainly isn't a unit devoid of talent, with the likes of Harold Perkins and Mekhi Wingo anchoring the front seven. Still, early results have shown the Tigers' defense to be one that can be got at.
After a dismal showing last week against Alabama, managing just 10 points, the Ole Miss offense needs to bounce back here. The good news for the Rebels is that star wideout Tre Harris, a Louisiana native, should be more involved as he makes his way back from injury.
Fellow pass-catching weapons Caden Prieskorn and Zakhari Franklin got their season debuts out of the way last week, and should be key cogs moving forward, too.
Ole Miss score prediction vs. LSU
Ole Miss 34, LSU 30. The efficiency models, like ESPN's FPI, think these two teams are much more comparable than you would expect considering how they're being discussed this week. Ole Miss is getting healthier and is playing at home. A disappointing loss to Alabama does not equate to a lost season. The Rebels have a chance to reclaim theirs here.
MOVING ON: Ole Miss football must learn to bounce back. Lane Kiffin hopes this Taoist parable can help
David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.
Get the latest news and insight on SEC football by subscribing to the SEC Unfiltered newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Ole Miss football score prediction vs. LSU in SEC action
