LSU’s 19-24 loss at Ole Miss turned into a late chase that was just one conversion short of a win as Nussmeier’s fourth-quarter drive failed. The Rebels then bled the clock with a gutsy fourth-down conversion to seal the deal. The Tigers’ main weakness was their sluggish ground game, and the Rebels’ offense being efficient did not help at all. Ole Miss outgained LSU 480-254 while managing just 57 rushing yards on 22 attempts in a physical road test. Nussmeier finished 21-34 for 197 yards with a TD and an interception, but LSU’s inability to run put the burden on late throws, which didn’t convert.

After a first half in which LSU logged just two carries, the Tigers then went with true freshman Harlem Berry more often in the second half. Berry went on to convert a six-yard score with 5:04 left and cut the deficit to just five points before the two-point try was defended easily by Ole Miss linebacker Suntarine Perkins. Berry had a patchwork performance with seven carries for 22 yards and a touchdown. It was an attempt from LSU’s side to ignite the spark and look for some solutions to the problems posed by the Rebels.

“You know, I think we’ve been in a rotation. I think I’ve said it to you, right? We’re going to use them all. Right. And Frank really feels like when he’s got a guy that sees it and feels hot, he’s going to keep him in the game,” Kelly said in the postgame conference. The context matters a lot here.

LSU’s leading rusher, Caden Durham, was ruled out for the Ole Miss game with an ankle injury. This led to the situation in which Durham’s production, which was a lot, had to be distributed between Berry and Kaleb Jackson and a converted dual athlete, Ju’Juan Johnson. So, with Durham sidelined, the RB coach Frank Wilson went with Berry to step up.

This was modestly successful, too. Berry had a touchdown, but this didn’t go on to become a breakout performance from his side, which could’ve saved the game. But Kelly is sure that this won’t be a recurring theme in future games.

“I don’t think there’s anything to read into that, you know, all of a sudden he’s the starting running back or, um, you know, he’s a guy that needs to get more carries. He deserved what he got today. He earned it. But I think we were just—it was what Frank felt was the best guy at that time,” Kelly explained. Berry’s late carries did give some hope and provided some situational juice, but LSU’s overall 57 rushing yards showed that this was more of a game-by-game call rather than a permanent decision

Looking ahead, the plan is the same, and Durham is at the center of it all. Wilson’s room lacks true depth, but these carries were central for a back to get some live reps in, and that too against a formidable opponent. LSU will be hitting a bye and will come back to face South Carolina, which should be an easy-to-moderate win for LSU, but we never know because this season is turning out to be full of upsets all around.

Not a dual-threat

Brian Kelly surprisingly (and unintentionally) spotted LSU’s Achilles’ heel just before the Ole Miss game. “We’re not a dual-threat offense,” he said, before adding the exact thing that led to their downfall in this game, “We don’t have a QB who will run for 100 yards. We have to rely on efficient runs to set up everything else we do.”

If Nussmeier were a dual-threat QB, LSU would not have to lean so much on the freshman running back to compensate for the production of a veteran. 

But that’s not something against Nussmeier, though. Kelly also nodded to the progress of Nussmeier, who has been just modest this season. He said, “His mechanics are so much smoother.” While the mandate among fans could be to try to turn Nussmeier into a dual threat slowly, that would be the polar opposite of his playing style. So now, everything will lean on Durham getting healthy as soon as possible and Berry working on some fundamentals that would lead him to extend the drives and dodge defenses in a better fashion.