Football Suffers First Loss of the Year at LSU, 45-20

BATON ROUGE, La. – No. 7 Ole Miss was able to get another productive day out of freshman running back Quinshon Judkins, but a feisty Tiger defense and the dual-threat capabilities of quarterback Jayden Daniels pushed LSU past the Rebels, 45-20, in Death Valley on Saturday afternoon.

A strong start from the Rebels (7-1, 3-1 SEC) wasn't enough to keep the team's winning streak alive, as a big second half scoring run by the Tigers (6-2, 4-1 SEC) handed Ole Miss its first loss of the season.

Judkins carried the Rebel offense on his back, serving as the team's primary running back and finishing his day with 25 carries, 111 yards and a pair of rushing touchdowns. This now marks the fifth time this season Judkins has rushed for over 100 yards, as well as the fifth time that the Pike Road, Alabama, native has run for two rushing touchdowns in a single game.

Judkins is now just the third Rebel to ever have five games with multiple rushing touchdowns in a single season, joining Brandon Bolden (2010) and Deuce McAllister (1999, 2000). Additionally, Judkins tied the single-season freshman record for rushing touchdowns in a season and has moved into a tie for sixth in single-season rushing scores with 12 touchdowns on the year.

Quarterback Jaxson Dart went 19-of-34 for 284 yards passing, primarily linking up with Malik Heath, who ended up with a career-high 145 yards receiving on eight catches.

The Rebels got to work right away on offense, stringing together a five-play, 70-yard drive with only 1:37 coming off the clock before Judkins punched in his first touchdown of the day to put Ole Miss up 7-0. Following a Tiger field goal, the freshman would run in for yet another first quarter rushing touchdown, expanding the Rebel lead to 14-3 with 6:01 to go in the opening quarter.

Jonathan Cruz opened the second frame by drilling a 32-yard field goal for the Rebels, taking the team's lead up to 14 early-on in the quarter. However, a pair of LSU touchdowns from Daniels drew the score level at 17-17 with 8:20 remaining in the half.

Another Cruz field goal, this time from 48 yards out, helped the Rebels carry a 20-17 lead into the halftime locker room over the Tigers.

The second half opened with both defenses holding strong to force back-to-back punts before the Tigers marched down the field to score a goal line touchdown to jump ahead of the Rebels, 24-20, with 8:25 to go in the third. Following an Ole Miss interception, LSU padded its lead with yet another rushing touchdown from Daniels to expand its lead up to 11 with 14:18 remaining on the clock.

Penalties started to catch up with the Rebels down the stretch, with Ole Miss ending the day with 10 flags for a total of 111 yards. LSU didn't let that extra yardage go to waste, putting the game out of reach with an additional pair of rushing touchdowns in the final eight minutes of play to close the door on the Tiger victory.

The Rebels will stay on the road next week with a trip to College Station against Texas A&M (3-3, 1-2 SEC). Kickoff against the Aggies is set for 6:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network.

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Team Stats

Jaxson Dart

Jordan Watkins

Players Mentioned

Jonathan Cruz

Jaxson Dart

Malik Heath

Quinshon Judkins

Players Mentioned

Jonathan Cruz

Jaxson Dart

Malik Heath

Quinshon Judkins

The University of Mississippi Athletics