BATON ROUGE — Would you have believed the defense would've been what saved LSU football's season in the team's biggest game yet just weeks after it let USC off the hook in Las Vegas?

With ramifications galore on the line, the masterful game plan LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker constructed and the masterclass his players executed on the field in a top-10 showdown with No. 8 Ole Miss on Saturday night could very well be a springboard for the unit.

Jaxson Dart and the Rebels came into the matchup with the Tigers leading the SEC in scoring, boasting one of the more prolific offenses in college football. The Tigers' defensive stats wouldn't wow anyone but as Whit Weeks said following LSU's thrilling 29-26 overtime win over Ole Miss, the Tigers knew what was coming.

And LSU's defense was ready.

GRADING LSU'S OVERTIME WIN OVER OLE MISS LSU football overcomes miscues to top Ole Miss in OT. Grading Brian Kelly, Tigers on victory vs. Rebels

LSU RALLIES TO BEAT OLE MISS IN OVERTIME LSU football rallies to take down Ole Miss in overtime

"For our defense, there was never a doubt at any moment in that game that we weren't going to win that game," Weeks said.

The Rebels were able to build a 10-0 lead by the 8:39 mark in the second quarter but it could've been worse. LSU's defense got a fourth-down stop inside its 5-yard line after an interception of LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier set up the Rebs in good field position. That stop was all the Tigers needed.

"From that moment on, we knew we weren't going to be out of the game," Weeks said. "We knew we had to keep fighting and clawing for everything we could get."

LSU had the extra week to prepare for Ole Miss because of an off week, and the defensive players leading up to the game and afterward detailed that while there wasn't much talk about last year's wild rollercoaster 55-49 loss in Oxford, it was very much on their minds.

On top of that motivation, Baker's game plan against Ole Miss' offense led to some confidence coming into the night.

"We just had to control Jaxson Dart," said senior cornerback Zy Alexander, who picked off Dart in the end zone in the fourth quarter. "They're a pass-first team, so we had to just control him and we would have been straight.

"Everybody was just doing their job and everybody was just playing with confidence. We put in the work all week. When you teach confidence every day of the week, you're going to play good."

The process to turning around LSU's defense has been gradual. One that LSU coach Brian Kelly said started with trying to dial in the players' focus.

Now the guys understand Baker's scheme and defense better and that led to the performance against Ole Miss.

"Getting them to think about one play at a time. Just getting them locked in and focused on what's important, they are so much better at that then they were in Week 1," Kelly said. "Control the controllables; play with physicality. And they're playing with a better awareness tactically on third down, red zone, short yardage.

"They understand the defense better and they're doing their job. It's really been a consistency in messaging. How do you execute at the highest level when you need to? And to do that, you have to stay locked in one play at a time."

Because of LSU's defensive performance and how the Tigers fought to climb back into the game with the late touchdown, Kelly decided to tie the game to send it to overtime and Weeks was fired up about the decision.

The sophomore linebacker, who had a wild game with 18 tackles, a forced fumble, one pass breakup, one sack and two tackles-for-loss, just wanted to play more football. But really for Kelly and the coaching staff, it was an indication of the defensive unit and the confidence they had in it.

LSU allowed the Rebels to score just six points in the second half. And on the biggest possession of the season — the first overtime possession — the Tigers delivered, pushing Ole Miss backward to force a 57-yard field goal and ultimately set up Nussmeier's game-winning touchdown pass to Kyren Lacy on the next play.

"(Our confidence was) through the roof," Weeks said of taking the field for the overtime possession. "Once we scored to end regulation, we knew the whole game that we're not losing this ballgame.

"Once we knew we had a chance to go out there and win the game, the confidence was through the roof that we weren't going to let them in the end zone."

MAGNOLIA BOWL Why is LSU-Ole Miss called the Magnolia Bowl? Series record, history in SEC rivalry

GREG BROOKS LAWSUIT Former LSU football LB Greg Brooks accuses school, Brian Kelly, hospital of negligence

Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: How LSU's defense piloted team's thrilling overtime win over Ole Miss