Ole Miss players describe what it would mean to win at LSU
OXFORD — Ole Miss has a chance to do something Saturday it hasn’t done in 12 years.
No Ole Miss football team has beaten LSU in Baton Rouge since 2008. It’s a feat only two Ole Miss teams have achieved this century. Dating back to 1894, Ole Miss only has a 36% winning percentage in Baton Rouge.
This year will be the weirdest Magnolia Bowl matchup ever. The COVID-19 pandemic changed college football in too many ways to count. But Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin knows the complications of the moment won’t take away from the value of stealing a win at Tiger Stadium.
“You’re going to remember for the rest of your life if you go into Tiger Stadium and beat LSU,” Kiffin said. “Nobody will remember it was COVID or opt-outs or any of that stuff. It’s pretty neat.”
Kiffin won at Tiger Stadium twice when he was the offensive coordinator at Alabama. But none of his players have. Ole Miss hasn’t beaten LSU since 2015, one year before the Rebels’ oldest players got to campus. And even transfer players, like former Georgia safety Otis Reese, who played LSU at their previous schools didn’t defeat the Tigers.
“We haven’t beaten them in years, at least since I’ve been here we haven’t beaten them,” senior offensive tackle Royce Newman said. “So, just for my last game against LSU, just to have a win under our belts, that’d be sweet.”
Ole Miss is a 2.5-point favorite. The 4-4 Rebels and 4-5 Tigers are an interesting matchup for one another, both possessing high-scoring offenses and paper-thin defenses.
Beyond the on-field similarities, these two teams have a deeper connection. Ole Miss’ veterans — the same ones yearning to beat LSU for the first time — can relate to the situation LSU’S players are in right now.
The Tigers self-imposed a bowl ban at the beginning of December, meaning Saturday’s game will be the last of LSU’S season. Ole Miss was banned from participating in the 2017 and 2018 postseasons.
Playing to win when winning is the only reward is difficult. But Ole Miss senior defensive end Ryder Anderson saw those qualities in the Tigers in their upset victory over Florida last weekend.
“They showed a lot of heart coming out against No. 6 Florida, and they played their tails off,” Anderson said. “I expect the same when we go over there. They’re going to come out with the same energy.”
Ole Miss isn’t expecting an unmotivated LSU team. The Rebels expect a fight. But it’s a fight Ole Miss’ players are wanting to be in.
“Just getting a win for my senior year, that’d be huge,” Anderson said. “And that’s big for the program, too. You’ve probably heard us all talk about we’re trying to finish as the hottest team in the nation. That’s the next step for that.”