Now that the No. 1 ranked LSU Tigers have slain their Goliath, they must come back down to Earth and take care of business for their remaining three games of the regular season before they can even dream of National Championship trophies.
What the Tigers cannot do is lull themselves into a false sense of security. As the saying goes, “Anything can happen.”
The good thing is that LSU has not seemed to waver in their intensity all year long. The Tigers know what is at stake and, thus far, have played like every game is a title game.
However, the Tigers have not had this big a win in a long time. How they handle the remaining games on their regular season schedule as the best in the country remains to be seen.
The first test comes Saturday when LSU travels to “The Grove” for a date with long time rival Ole Miss. The Rebels are not a bad football team by any stretch of the imagination.
Despite their overall record of 4-6, Ole Miss has played some tough football this season. In the Rebels last three losses, they have given Missouri, Texas A&M and Auburn all they can handle.
On top of that, Ole Miss knows that they must win their last two games in order to be bowl eligible. Desperate teams can produce desperate results if taken lightly.
Offensively, the Rebels are a team that can run the football against the best. Ole Miss enters Saturday’s contest averaging 247.4 yards per game on the ground and put up 167 yards rushing against a seasoned Auburn defense.
The biggest contributor in the running game is quarterback John Rhys Plumlee. The Rebel signal caller has 832 yards on 115 attempts this season. Ole Miss also has two more players, Scottie Phillips and Jerrion Ealy, that have over 500 yards of rushing this year.
In contrast, Ole Miss is not very good throwing the football. The Rebels average right at 187 yards per game in the passing game.
The obvious defensive key for the Tigers come Saturday is to make Ole Miss a one-dimensional team and kill the running game. So far this year, LSU has done that, holding opponents to 100.7 yards per game on the ground.
As far as the Rebel defense is concerned, with the exception of Alabama, they have not faced a team as explosive on the offensive side of the ball as the Tigers are. Against the Crimson Tide, Ole Miss surrendered 59 points and 573 yards of offense.
With their passing game and the addition of the warrior-like attitude of Clyde-Edwards Helaire, all LSU needs to do is play with the same intensity they did against Alabama and the sky is the limit.
June 13, 2026
