The Most Surprising Thing About LSU's Performance vs. Ole Miss

The LSU Tigers suffered a disappointing 32-24 loss to the Ole Miss Rebels on Saturday night. It was LSU's first loss in the Lane Kiffin era, and they dropped to No. 10 in the latest AP Poll.

The Tigers attempted a tremendous second-half comeback, but an interception ended the game in the final minute. It was a frustrating night from the entire team in Kiffin's return to Oxford.

While LSU lost to a quality opponent, there was one surprising element from Saturday's defeat.

A Flat Start From LSU

LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

It's not surprising that Ole Miss came out on fire. Home-field advantage played a major role in this game. Vaught-Hemingway Stadium provided an energy boost for the Rebels and they took advantage.

However, LSU's lack of energy was surprising. Obviously, Ole Miss players had more at stake, but the Tigers came out flat. The offense punted three times to start the game, and Trinidad Chambliss picked apart the Tigers' defense.

Suddenly, LSU trailed 24-7 at halftime as Chambliss orchestrated an eight-play scoring drive in less than two minutes. The Tigers had no answers until the second half started. LSU started to find momentum as they established the run game and Sam Leavitt looked comfortable.

"I'm proud of the way the guys battled back," Kiffin said, per ESPN's Mark Schlabach. "It was really good. But at the end, we didn't finish. We could have finished on defense and stopped them. We let them go down and score. And then on offense, we moved down and then stalled there at the end."

While Kiffin's offense can take the positive second-half results into next week, the first-half performance was disappointing. If they had more answers early, the Tigers may have won on Saturday night. Perhaps moving on from this week's drama could help Kiffin's team refocus.

"I'm sure I'll be criticized for saying that, but yeah, I am," Kiffin said, happy that this week is ending. "I was thinking that all week, especially today, and I would have said that in a win or a loss. You know, that was really emotional driving in on the buses for a lot of reasons. And I'm not saying this because I would have said this anyway since you asked. It was just really a lot of emotions of gratefulness for this place and for the six years. It went well beyond football."

While LSU got off to a fast start against Clemson, that trend hasn't continued over the last two weeks. That will have to change as conference play begins.

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