What's LSU football's best path to beat Ole Miss? That and more in this week's LSU mailbag
BATON ROUGE – As LSU football rested up, college football's spooky season was in full effect this weekend.
No. 1 Alabama went down at Vanderbilt while No. 4 Tennessee was tripped up on the road at Arkansas.
The Tigers (4-1, 1-0) will get back in the swing of things this weekend in a game that in the preseason was considered one of the biggest games of the season. Lane Kiffin and No. 12 Ole Miss come to town for a big Southeastern Conference contest inside Tiger Stadium on Saturday night (6:30 p.m., ABC).
Kiffin and the Rebels (5-1, 1-1) bounced back from their home loss to Kentucky two weeks ago to defeat South Carolina, 24-3, on Saturday.
LSU BOWL GAME PROJECTIONS LSU football bowl projections: Where the Tigers are predicted to play after Week 5
CADEN DURHAM, CJ DANIELS INJURIES Caden Durham, CJ Daniels injury updates: What LSU football coach Brian Kelly said
What is LSU football's best path to beat Ole Miss?
This game features two similar offenses. With Jaxson Dart orchestrating the Rebels' high-powered offense and Garrett Nussmeier guiding the Tigers, both quarterbacks have potential to put up good numbers in this matchup.
But LSU's best path beating Ole Miss doesn't necessarily depend on a monstrous day from Nuss. Where his performance will be key will be third-down passing when needed and not putting the ball in trouble.
The running game must be efficient to give the Tigers their best chance to knock off the Rebs. Shrinking the game and keeping Dart, Tre Haris and company on the sideline will be LSU's best defense as breaking down the matchup lends to Kiffin's offense having a big day.
Which prep quarterback LSU recently offered should fans root for it to land?
Over the last week or so, the Tigers coaching staff extended offers to five high school quarterbacks in the 2027 recruiting class. Colton Nussmeier, Garrett's younger brother, Baton Rouge native Elijah Haven, Trent Seaborn, Peyton Houston and Trae Taylor have all garnered official offers.
Haven ranks as the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2027 class, per 247Sports. Nussmeier comes in at No. 18 overall while Seaborn is the ninth-best QB in that cycle.
It's likely that LSU could want to sign a couple of quarterbacks in 2027 as 2025 top overall prospect Bryce Underwood could likely be playing his last season in Baton Rouge then. But if I had to rank which QBs LSU fans should hope to land, I'd go Haven first because he's the bigger of the five signal callers and his game is multi-faceted.
After Haven, Seaborn would be a great fit and he has a expansive tool bag in terms of making all the throws. The younger Nussmeier followed by Taylor and Houston would round things out for me based on evaluations and some video I've seeen.
How important could potential absence of RB Caden Durham be for LSU vs Ole Miss?
In a word: critical.
How Durham has been able to improve as the weeks have ticked by this season has not only been great for him but huge for LSU's offense. Durham is the quickest running back among the Tigers' stable of backs but his vision, elusiveness mixed with his balance and ability to run through arm tackles have come up key in big moments.
As I mentioned above how important the Tigers running the ball will be Saturday night, Durham's health matters plenty in that endeavor.
LSU MUST FIX THIS BEFORE OLE MISS GAME Where there is cause for concern for LSU football as big matchup with Ole Miss awaits
GRADING LSU'S WIN OVER SOUTH ALABAMA Garrett Nussmeier hits 400 yards in LSU football's win vs South Alabama. Grading the win
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: LSU football mailbag: Run game keys vs Ole Miss and QB recruits
