Five most important position groups for LSU vs. Ole Miss

LSU has its first SEC home game of the season on Saturday night in Death Valley against Ole Miss, looking to win its fifth straight game and get off to a 2-0 start in conference play. The Rebels come in off of a dominant win over South Carolina last week and are now on the road for the second straight game.

Here are my five most important position groups as the Tigers look to get the home win.

5. Safety/STAR 

From a matchup standpoint, this group has to deal with Caden Prieskorn and Ole Miss’ slot receivers in a lot of situations and will be challenged to also help in the run game. Without Harold Perkins, this unit will be tested consistently to be versatile, tackle in the open field and keep their eyes in the right places with all of the pre-snap motion Lane Kiffin is going to throw at them.

I expect Dashawn Spears to start at free safety and Major Burns to start at STAR, but how often will the three safety spots rotate and how reliable will they be? There are a ton of questions and concerns about this unit, but their performance on Saturday is crucial.

4. Linebacker

Whit Weeks and Gregg Penn had a good showing against South Alabama, but now the intensity turns up in a big way. Ole Miss did a great job attacking South Carolina’s linebackers after blocking the front four. The run game is not as dynamic as Kiffin wants, but it does enough to keep defenses honest. Whit Weeks early in the year was getting overwhelmed in the run game and Penn looked too slow at times. Kiffin will try to expose both of them in these areas repeatedly and force Blake Baker to find solutions on the fly. These two are at the heart of what LSU needs to prove defensively on Saturday.

3. Quarterback

The quarterback is the most important position in every football game at this level, but for Garrett Nussmeier I think this is a real opportunity to establish himself on the national stage. He’s been overlooked despite being near the top in the country in numerous statistical categories and despite making some awesome plays in the win over South Carolina. Now, he’s going to have to face another high-level defense and shoulder most of the weight to move the ball downfield. I don’t expect LSU’s run game to find much success in this one with Ole Miss doing a great job at limiting the run success of its first two SEC opponents. Nussmeier will have to attack a shaky secondary early and often and have to be clean in a game where LSU will need all of the points it can get.

2. Interior O-Line

Miles Frazier, DJ Chester, and Garrett Dellinger have to have their best games of the season for LSU to win this game. This is another high-level defensive line, similar to South Carolina, but the Rebels’ strength is on the interior with Walter Nolen, JJ Pegues and Jared Ivey (DE) all dynamic playmakers and players who can press the pocket from the inside. Like I said, I’m not really worried about the run game against this defense, but these three can not get bullied on the interior if LSU is going to have a consistent game offensively. There have been ups and downs from this group and the offensive line as a whole, but hopefully coming off of a bye week they’re locked in and ready for the challenge.

1. Defensive ends

On the other side of the ball Bradyn Swinson, Sai’Vion Jones, Dashawn Womack and the defensive ends have to be excellent. Ole Miss will force the Tigers to prove they can stop the run, but once they get into obvious passing downs, getting to Dart is paramount. It was the difference between Kentucky getting the win and South Carolina getting ran. The Wildcats pressured Dart early and often and threw the entire offense off. Ole Miss showed a ton of improvement in the past week in pass protection, but that can’t be an excuse. LSU’s secondary is already a question mark and if the Tigers can’t get to the quarterback then getting stops becomes even more challenging.