COLLEGE FOOTBALL

• Tigers and Rebels mix it up in Oxford

  
  

  Oxford, MS (Sports Network) - The 10th-ranked LSU Tigers are set to invade Oxford for what figures to be a highly-competitive SEC game against the Ole Miss Rebels.

  LSU improved to 8-2 overall with a closer-than-expected, 24-16 victory over Louisiana Tech last weekend. The only two losses suffered by the Tigers this season have come against Florida and Alabama, arguably the two best teams in the nation, and Les Miles' team was competitive in both defeats. Only a November 28th home game against Arkansas remains on the regular-season docket after this weekend's clash for LSU.

  Ole Miss failed to live up to lofty preseason hype early on and was somewhat of a forgotten team. Fortunately, the Rebels continued to push on, and four of their last five outings have resulted in victory. They moved to 7-3 overall with last weekend's impressive 42-17 romp over Tennessee, and they will close out the regular season against rival Mississippi State next week.

  The Tigers hold a 55-38-4 advantage in the all-time series with the Rebels, but Ole Miss crushed LSU in a 31-13 final a year ago in Baton Rouge.

  LSU will be without the services of tailback Charles Scott for the rest of the season, as he has a broken collarbone. Scott leads the Tigers in rushing with 542 yards and four touchdowns, but Keiland Williams actually possesses a considerably higher yards-per-carry average and is more than capable of carrying the load. LSU's starting quarterback, Jordan Jefferson, has an ankle injury, but he is expected to play this weekend. The sophomore signal caller has completed 63.3 percent of his passes this season for 1,535 yards and 12 touchdowns with four interceptions. The top receiver on the club is Brandon LaFell, who has 43 catches for 560 yards and nine touchdowns.

  LSU is scoring 25.0 ppg while gaining 310.0 total ypg, and the team is limiting opponents to 13.7 ppg despite allowing 311.8 total ypg. The Tigers are surrendering a mere 3.4 yards per rushing attempt with three rushing scores in 10 outings, and the pass defense has mustered 12 interceptions while yielding 10 touchdowns. With 17 takeaways and 17 sacks, there have been a fair number of impact plays made. Kelvin Sheppard paces LSU with 87 tackles, and he has eight TFLs to his credit.

  The Tigers were playing without four offensive starters last week against Louisiana Tech, an obvious reason for the narrow margin of victory. The aforementioned Williams took the place of Scott and rushed for 116 yards and two touchdowns on only 15 carries. As for LaFell, he had two catches for 54 yards and a touchdown. Jarrett Lee was unimpressive in place of Jefferson, as the backup quarterback completed only 7-of-22 passes.

  "Throughout the week at practice we talked about what Charles (Scott) brought to this team, just his physical play, and that was something that Stevan Ridley and I wanted to do," said Williams of his injured teammate after the game. "We prepared for that all week and it showed. We could've been better at times, but I think we did a good job." Louisiana Tech actually outgained LSU in total yardage by a 322-246 margin. The Bulldogs finished with 178 rushing yards, as they pounded the ball 51 times on the ground. The LSU defense wasn't spectacular by any means, but the unit was solid enough to help earn the win.

  "Defensively, it looked like our defense in the second half," said Miles. "In the first half, we kind of felt like they felt like we weren't going to be tested. I kept trying to tell them that this is the best in-state team that we've played." Dexter McCluster, a versatile performer for Ole Miss, had the game of his life last weekend against Tennessee, as he rushed for 282 yards and four touchdowns. His rushing total broke a school record that had stood since 1995, and marked the most ever surrendered by the Tennessee program to one player, while his 324 all-purpose yards set another Rebel mark.

  "What makes him special, No. 1 is his heart, because he's tough," said Ole Miss head coach Houston Nutt of McCluster, who was named the national player of the week. "He's very tough and unselfish." Teammate and quarterback Jevan Snead didn't have to do much in the blowout victory, as he completed 13-of-20 passes for 133 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. The most important thing he did all day was hand the ball to McCluster, as well as to Brandon Bolden, who scored twice on the ground. Ole Miss finished with 359 rushing yards.

  "It definitely makes my job a lot easier," said Snead on McCluster's play. "Anytime he provides that spark, it makes the defense loosen up to respect him and it opens up the passing game." Defensively, a vastly underrated Ole Miss defense limited Tennessee to 275 total yards, including 99 rushing yards. The Rebels were tough against the pass as well, as they surrendered just 8.8 yards per pass completion. Ole Miss held Tennessee to 4-of-13 success on third down conversion attempts, an obvious reason that the Rebels won the time of possession battle by almost eight minutes.

  Ole Miss is now averaging 31.1 ppg and 405.6 total ypg, and McCluster has rushed for 755 yards and six touchdowns with an average of 7.1 yards per carry. He is second on the team in receiving with 31 catches for 394 yards and two touchdowns. Shay Hodge is tops with 50 catches for 810 yards and six scores, while Snead has completed a modest 52.9 percent of his throws for 1,983 yards and 17 touchdowns with 14 interceptions.

  Opponents are generating just 15.9 ppg against Ole Miss, which is allowing 313.0 total ypg. The Rebels are giving up an average of just 3.7 yards per rushing attempt, and they have limited opposing quarterbacks to 50 percent completions. Opponents are making good on just 27 percent of their third down conversion attempts, impressive by any standards. While standout defensive end Greg Hardy is out for the season, Ole Miss still has some solid defenders in the fold.

  11/18 11:08:33 ET