The No. 13 LSU Tigers rallied for a 29-26 overtime victory over the No. 9 Ole Miss Rebels before a crowd of 102,212 Saturday night in Tiger Stadium.
LSU’s only lead of the game was the final score.
“I’m really proud of our football team, the way they never blinked,” LSU Head Coach Brian Kelly said in his postgame press conference. “They were down virtually the whole game. They just kept playing. There was no frustration.
“It would’ve been easy for our offense to get frustrated, not getting touchdowns, but they just kept plodding along.”
The Tigers (5-1, 2-0 SEC) drove 75 yards in 13 plays to tie the game at 23. Garrett Nussmeier threw a touchdown pass to Aaron Anderson on fourth-and-5 from the Ole Miss 23 with 32 seconds left in the game. Damian Ramos kicked the extra point.
LSU won the overtime toss and went on defense. A holding penalty pushed Ole Miss back to the 35. On first-and-20, Jaxon Dart threw an incompletion.
A false start penalty moved the ball back to the 40. After two incompletions, Caden Davis hit a 57-yard field goal to give the Rebels a 26-23 lead.
It took the Tigers exactly one play to win it. On first down from the .25, Nussmeier hit Kyren Lacy for a touchdown.
Ole Miss dropped to 5-2 overall and 1-2 in the SEC.
“Just an incredible atmosphere here tonight,” Kelly said. “I thought our game operations in creating an incredible environment with 100 years of Tiger Stadium, hats off to them. I thought they made the stadium environment unique and electric and what you want for a game day event and then the two teams played up to that and lived up to it.”
Nussmeier completed 22-of-51 passes for 337 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions.
“I though he grew more today than at any time he’s been here,” Kelly said. “I think this was a growth game for him. You may disagree with me. But as a coach the growth he was able to exhibit through that game at at the end is going to serve him well.”
Lacy caught five passes for 111 yards. Anderson had three for 81.
Nussmeier’s other touchdown pass went for 12 yards to true freshman Trey’Dez Green in the second quarter with Ole Miss leading 10-0.
The Tigers didn’t have a lot of success on the ground, finishing with 87 yards. Cade Durham led the team with 39 yards on 12 carries. Josh Williams had nine for 34.
Dart completed 24-of-42 for 284 with one touchdown and one interception.
The Rebels had 180 yards rushing. Ulysses Bentley gained 112 on 11 carries. His 50-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-2 gave Ole Miss the 10-0 lead early in the second quarter.
The Rebels missed opportunities to score in the first quarter. Cade Davis missed a 32-yard field goal after a 65-yard drive to the LSU 15.
On LSU’s ensuing possession, Jamarious Brown picked off a Nussmeier pass and returned it 10 yards to the LSU 13. But the Tigers stopped Henry Parrish Jr. for a one-yard loss on fourth-and-1 from the 4.
Ole Miss took a 17-7 lead on a 75-yard touchdown drive late in the first half. Ramos booted a 33-yard field goal with 34 seconds left in the half.
The Tigers then got a big break, recovering a fumble at the Ole Miss 25 with 26 seconds left. Ramos kicked a 45-yard field goal with 5 seconds left and LSU trailed 17-13 at the half,
Both defenses were aggressive. LSU limited Ole Miss to field goals of 37 and 35 yards in the second half.
“I can’t say enough about the defensive effort tonight — sacks, harassing the quarterback, making the big plays when the needed to,” Kelly said.
The Tigers got within 20-16 on a 41-yard Ramos field goal with 1:10 left in the third. The Rebels final field goal in regulation came with 3:14 left in the game.
Penalties were a factor in the game. Ole Miss had 12 for 110 yards. LSU had six for 45.
LSU travels to Fayetteville, Ark., Saturday to face Arkansas. The Razorbacks (4-2, 2-1) had an open date in Week 7.