One of the worst-looking field goals in Southeastern Conference history changed the complexion of the 2022 league race Saturday night.
As Tennessee placekicker Chase McGrath’s 40-yard game-winning kick – a knuckleball, a whirlybird, a dying quail – whatever you want call it – wheezed its way barely over the crossbar to beat No. 1 Alabama 52-49 as time expired, SEC fan bases across the South rejoiced.
A few minutes later in Gainesville when LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels finally began overcoming his fear of flinging in the Tigers’ 45-35 win at Florida, life suddenly got pumped into a distraught Tiger Nation that the previous Saturday saw their team fold immediately in a 40-13 Tiger Stadium loss to Tennessee.
Suddenly, all is not lost quite yet in Brian Kelly’s first season as head coach as LSU (5-2 overall, 3-1 in the SEC West) plays 7th ranked and unbeaten Ole Miss (7-0, 3-0 SEC West) for a piece of the West Division lead Saturday afternoon in Tiger Stadium.
But if there is one thing Kelly has understood in his 33 years as a head coach is the mercurial weekly nature of college football. He’s not thinking about positioning LSU for a possible trip to Atlanta for the SEC championship game.
Kelly is still trying to get his team to take baby steps of improvement, such as Daniels trusting himself and his receivers to throw the ball aggressively downfield. He’s more concerned trying to flip a 27-point Tiger Stadium loss from two weeks ago.
“We won't talk about tying for the West,” Kelly said at his weekly Monday in-season press conference “I think it's too early to talk in terms of that. I think there is just too much football left to be played.
“What we're going to talk about is how we play better at home in front of our fans against a top 10 team. Our focus will be on ourselves. We get a (open date) week off to assess. Then, we'll put the next four weeks in perspective and maybe start to talk about it from that sense.”
At Florida, Daniels put aside his reluctance to throw downfield and completed 23 (to nine different receivers) of 32 passes for 349 yards and three TDs, and added 44 rushing yards and three TDs. He hit 8 of 9 for 173 passing yards on third downs with six of his third-down completions for first downs.
But none was bigger than his first third-down conversion of the night – a scrambling 40-yard throw to wide receiver Kayshon Boutte – on LSU’s third offensive play of the game. Nine plays later, the Tigers pulled into a 7-7 tie on Daniels’ 7-yard TD flip to running back John Emery Jr.
“This had been the seventh game and we had been confronted with those situations and haven't made them,” Kelly said. “But I don't think that there was any hesitation that we wouldn't go back to it.
“Those two have been working hard in practice and trying to build that relationship. Jayden got flushed out of the pocket, but he kept his eyes looking for him (Boutte). It was really the first time when those two found each other in terms of getting the ball.”
That play was contagious for the rest of the game, which was the most encouraging aspect for Kelly.
“I think that was the first time this year that our best players stepped up to that level and made plays,” Kelly said. “It's got to be part of what we continue to grow towards.
“We had been kind of grinding it out, we were trying to fight for every blade of grass, and sometimes you just gotta make some plays.
“The big (Daniels 54-yard) touchdown throw to Jaray Jenkins. They (Florida) jump offside, that's a part of our offense, take a shot down the field. Maybe earlier in the year we throw that out of bounds.
“So just staying at it and being consistent with coaching it, and then telling our guys that, look, sooner or later we got to step up and make these plays.”
Here’s Kelly on other topics:
On LSU’s offensive playcalling process
“It comes down from (offensive coordinator) Mike (Denbrock) and (wide receivers coach) Cortez (Hankins). But they're going through our signalers. So, I'm hearing them. There’s a couple voices. One, obviously is enough. You can't have three or four voices when you're getting the play and getting into a flow.
“The one thing and I've been a play caller is you can't get a million suggestions going. You got to let a play caller go. For me, I'm reminding him on whether we're going for it on fourth down and what we need to go for it on fourth down, how many yards. Hey, we're going for it on fourth and three here. You can run it twice. I'll give him suggestions like that during the series.
“And other than that, kind of allow him to keep in the flow of the game. I'm reminding him of time and timeouts and really time management issues more than anything else.
“Other than that, playcalling is an art and a science, but you can't get in the way of the art of it.”
On LSU’s defensive backfield
“We got to tackle better. I think it starts there. We gave up a big play early on right out of the gates. Got to stay on top of the coverage there.
“So, it's kind of a mixed bag right now. I would like to stand up here and tell you that everything is great and we're ready to enshrine them all into the College Football Hall of Fame. That's just not the case. It's a work in progress, and we have to continue to get better at both the corner and safety and nickel positions.
“I think it starts with the fundamentals, leverage, staying on top of the football, and tackling. I don't want to make it simple, but it's not that hard. We must get better in the fundamentals. If we do, we'll be better on the back end of our defense.”
On starting true freshman offensive tackles Will Campbell and Emery Jones
“I don't believe I've ever started two freshmen period on an offensive line, but to have two tackles in the SEC is quite unusual.
“It's not necessarily the physical. They have the physical because you cannot play in this league unless you have physical traits. These guys are too fast, too big, too strong. They'll walk you back to the quarterback if you're not physically strong enough.
“Emery Jones and Will Campbell physically have the traits to go in the weight room and be as strong as anybody that we have, and are able to move their feet to obviously get out and set these guys. They're going to miss a couple. We got beat inside a couple of times that they countermoved us.
“These guys are extraordinary in their ability to move on to the next play. They focus and then refocus. Their mental approach to the game is so far above any freshman that I'm used to having. They generally have that look in their eyes right about now that they're done.
“These guys are anxious for more. That's unusual.
On Ole Miss’ diverse offense that’s averaging 502.9 yards and 40.9 points
“It's perimeter based. The ball is trying to get out on the perimeter, but you now have a quarterback (Jaxson Dart) that if you're spreading yourself thin on the perimeter, he strikes down the heart of our defense.
And then they have a great play-action game, and (wide receiver Jonathan) Mingo is 6-3 225 pounds. He's a matchup nightmare. When your safeties are dropping down, you're trying to load the box, you know, defend the perimeter, now they have one-on-one matchups that they can throw the football.
"Auburn was trying to stop the passing game, and then they were a little soft to the run game. They (Ole Miss) ran for 400 yards. You cannot win games giving up 400 yards rushing. Well, you can, but you're playing the game up and down the field.
“So, it's just an offense that has been set up obviously to force the ball outside, but they have a quarterback now that can run it so effectively as well. They threw the ball last year because they had a great quarterback in (Matt) Corral. This is a different quarterback.
“That's what (Ole Miss coach) Lane (Kiffin) does well. He's going to set his offense based upon who the player is. It's not about plays, it's about players for him, and he changes based upon who he has. He has a quarterback that's really a dual threat.”
