LSU Football Outpaces Ole Miss 53-48 Behind Record Breaking Performance from Kayshon Boutte
It's a performance that will never be forgotten. On a rainy, windy and cold evening, LSU true freshman receiver Kayshon Boutte paced the Tigers to a 53-48 season finale win behind an SEC-record 308-yard receiving performance in Death Valley.
The stellar 14-catch performance that included a trio of touchdowns was capped off by a 45-yard catch and run that cemented the game in LSU folklore forever.
"He catches the go route about as good as anybody I've seen," Orgeron said. "He's learned our offense, he runs good routes and he catches all the ball we're throwing to him. I think he's gonna be one of the great players we have here at LSU."
When it rains it pours and that's exactly what happened to LSU in its season finale with Ole Miss on Saturday evening. A beautiful day quickly turned into a cold, rainy and windy evening in Baton Rouge.
As the weather worsened, so did LSU's apparent chances of knocking off the visiting Rebels as a 6:0 turnover margin in the 33 minutes wasn't enough to stop an onslaught of Ole Miss scoring. But the Tigers found a way to squeak out the win with key defensive stops.
A sack from senior Neil Farrell on the second-to-last Rebel possession and a fumble recovery from fellow senior safety JaCoby Stevens were the timely plays the unit needed to put a pin in Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss offense.
Most expected this to be an offensive back and forth against two less than stellar defenses this season. While it certainly turned into that, in fact it was the LSU defense that showed up in the first half before a scorching hot second-half
Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral threw a season high four interceptions in the first half alone which was enough for LSU to capitalize on for 27 points to help build out the early lead. It was the first time since 1999 in which an LSU team recorded four interceptions in the same half, a remarkable feat considering the elite secondary play that's come with this program.
There was variety in the interceptions as defensive end Ali Gaye, linebacker Jabril Cox, cornerback Jay Ward and safety Todd Harris all recorded interceptions, with Ward's being the fourth pick six of the season for LSU which leads the country. In total, Corral tossed five interceptions to the LSU defense but gashed the Tigers on the ground all night, accumulating 158 yards rushing.
Ole Miss has proven all year long that it doesn't matter the turnovers, it'll still score points and proved it against LSU in the second half. With a grand total of 558 yards for the game, the Rebels were able to score touchdowns on four straight drives in the second half to gain momentum.
Of course old habits die hard and after a mostly encouraging first half from the LSU defense, the Tigers ultimately reverted to their old ways to close the half. A 61-yard touchdown drive that took 1:33 off the clock helped keep Ole Miss within striking distance. The Rebels would put together touchdown drives of 85, 65, 77, 67 and 80 with all but one taking less than 2:44 off the playclock.
Now it didn't help that cornerback Derek Stingley was once again not able to play and at one point in the game both Cordale Flott and Elias Ricks were also injured. It all set up for an abysmal half for the LSU defense.
On offense, the Tigers were led by Boutte but received some big time throws from fellow true freshman Max Johnson, who finished with 435 yards and three touchdowns of his own. Freshman running back Kevontre Bradford ran for 53 yards on the night.
You get the theme here? It was a mixture of young and old that helped LSU pull out its fifth win of the year to finish the season .500. While it was far from perfect the goal was to build momentum and it's fair to say the Tigers were able to accomplish that in bunches with the final two games.
