Whit Weeks, College Football Playoff outlook for LSU in mailbag after Ole Miss win
BATON ROUGE – LSU football was lucky it didn't trail Ole Miss by at least 17 points early in the Saturday night's top-10 clash inside Tiger Stadium.
A Tre Harris drop, coupled with the defense pitching a near-goalline stand on the 4-yard line after a Garrett Nussmeier interception and Ole Miss missing a 32-yard field goal, things could've gotten out of hand. But thanks to Blake Baker's defense, the Tigers held the Jaxson Dart and the Rebels at bay enough to give the offense the time to eventually wake up.
LSU tied the game with 27 seconds left in regulation on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Nussmeier to Aaron Anderson. Ole Miss settled for a field goal in overtime before Nussmeier and Kyren Lacy called game on LSU's first play of overtime for the game-winning 25-yard TD pitch-and-catch to give LSU the 29-26 come-from-behind victory over the Rebs.
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With the win, the Tigers (5-1, 2-0 SEC) remains tied atop the SEC standings with Texas A&M and Texas.
Where would you rank Whit Week's performance vs Ole Miss?
There hasn't been many individual defensive performances like what sophomore linebacker Whit Weeks had against Ole Miss in recent memory for LSU that's for sure.
Weeks had 18 tackles, 10 of those solo tackles, two tackles-for-loss, one sack, one pass breakup and one forced fumble against the Ole Miss. Like Brian Kelly said after the game, it seemed like Weeks was everything and it felt like he was going to stop the Rebels single-handedly if that's what he needed to do.
When you think about what was on the line last night and the matchup with a really good Ole Miss offense, what Weeks pulled out was the stuff of legend.
Should there be concern about LSU football's running game after no-show vs Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss?
In short, I don't think so.
LSU managed just 84 yards on 24 carries against the Rebels. Freshman Caden Durham led the way with just 37 yards on 12 rushes.
Truth is, this was the best rush defense the Tigers have seen all season in Ole Miss. Kiffin's defense was averaging allowing 67 yards per game, which was among the best in college football. Ole Miss's defensive front arguably was the best unit on either side during last night's game.
It should be expected for the Tigers to have better run game performances against teams like Arkansas next week.
Where does LSU stand in College Football Playoff picture after Ole Miss win?
Before Saturday night's contest, most pundits had Ole Miss projected to make the 12-team College Football Playoff and LSU out.
Last night's win should have the Tigers projected inside the CFP field as at-large and Ole Miss out. LSU should likely be in the No. 9 to No. 11 range of projected seeding, so there is no margin for error right now.
The loss to USC in the season opener continues to look like a worse and worse loss as the Trojans keep piling up losses – USC loss at home to Penn State Saturday afternoon and is now 3-3 overall on the season.
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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: Where to rank Weeks' performance vs. Ole Miss
