Gamethread: #3 LSU vs. #13 Ole Miss, 2:30 P.M., ABC

GEAUX TO HELL OLE MISS, GEAUX TO HELL

Playing Dirty: Evan Sacks and Bunkie Perkins

I feel confident about today. Almost irrationally confident

#3 LSU heads to Oxford to take on #13 Ole Miss, looking to make a statement. A win Saturday would give LSU a second road win over a top-15 opponent this season, and put the Tigers at 2-0 in the SEC standings.

Ole Miss is the betting favorite, and per ESPN’s matchup predictor index the Rebels have a 73 percent chance of winning. I’m fully aware I’m not the most football-knowing person, but I just don’t understand Ole Miss being that much of a favorite in this game.

The core of that awesome defense that Ole Miss had last year is playing on Sundays. Jaxson Dart won’t be taking snaps for Ole Miss, instead it will be D-II transfer Trinidad Chambliss, and he’s never seen the type of defense that LSU’s bringing in. Blake Baker made life miserable for fifth-year senior and future first round pick Cade Klubnik; he broke DJ Lagway’s brain, and yet a guy making his third career start is supposed to crack the code? I don’t see it.

LSU’s not without faults. The Tiger offense has only looked good once this season, and that was against an FCS team. LSU’s rushing attack is one of the worst in the nation, and they probably won’t have Caden Durham to help out. That said, Ole Miss’s rush defense is just as bad, so if there ever was a time for the ground game to get going, it would be this week.

I’ve asked around, and friend of the website/Ole Miss correspondent Bunkie Perkins is worried that Garrett Nussmeier and these Tiger receivers are going to “shred” the Rebel secondary. I think that tracks, and if you’re asking me to pick between “Garrett Nussmeier” or “Trinidad Chambliss,” I’m taking the former every single time.

Final Prediction: LSU 31, Ole Miss 14