Rivalry Renewed in Death Valley for 2016 Magnolia Bowl

Magnolia Bowl
HottyToddy.com photo

This weekend the Ole Miss Rebels remain on the road as they travel down I-55 into Baton Rouge to take on the LSU Tigers in Death Valley. Kick off is slated for 8 p.m. on ESPN.

No. 22 Ole Miss heads into the Magnolia Bowl trophy game with the Tigers looking to rebound from the heart breaker last weekend at Arkansas.

Ole Miss enters the game averaging 39.7 ppg, which is third in the SEC, but the Rebels led the conference in passing yards at 320 ypg.

The Rebels have the nation’s top tight end senior Evan Engram. Engram has recorded 134 catches for a total of 1,984 yards.

Lets take a look at the Tigers.

LSU owns a 4-2 record in 2016, its two losses coming to Wisconsin (14-16) and Auburn (13-18). The Tigers have won games over Jacksonville State (34-13), Mississippi State (23-20), Missouri (42-7) and Southern Miss (45-10). LSU has won all four games at Tiger Stadium, while its two setbacks have occurred away from home. The Tigers were 2-2 before Les Miles was fired as head coach, and they have gone 2-0 since, averaging 43.5 points per game. Limiting opponents to 14.0 points per game, LSU has the nation’s fourth-best scoring defense as well as the second-best rushing defense in the SEC, giving up 103.7 yards per game.

A big piece to the Tiger defense has been sophomore DE Arden Key, who leads the SEC with 7.0 sacks. On offense, Danny Etling has taken over for Brandon Harris as the team’s starting quarterback, throwing for 925 yards in five games. The LSU rushing attack is led by the duo of Derrius Guice and Leonard Fournette, who have 564 and 386 yards respectively. Guice’s 9.1 yards per carry leads the SEC.

When the game kicks off Rebel fans will look on the LSU sidelines and see a familiar face leading the Tigers in Ed Orgeron who took over for Les Miles after Auburn defeat the Bayou Bengals on the Plains.

On Monday coach Hugh Freeze talked about-facing coach O.

“Well, they are playing with great passion and that is not something that they haven’t done I don’t think, but offensively they are different right now,” Freeze said. “They are very multiple. They give you a lot of different sets, staying balanced, using the skill at receiver; whether it is through speed sweeps or quick throws or shots down the field. Their run game has always been good and still is, but defensively they are what they have been.”

Going deeper in this rivalry in a battle for the Magnolia Bowl trophy.

The Rebels and the Tigers are no strangers to one another on the gridiron as they have faced 104 times prior. LSU holds a 59-41-4 advantage in the series. Back in 2008 the rivalry was renamed to the Magnolia Bowl Trophy.

Fans that can’t make it down to Baton Rouge can watch the game on ESPN with kick off at 8pm or listen to the call on the Ole Miss Radio Network.

Adam Brown is the sports editor of HottyToddy.com. He can be reached at adam.brown@hottytoddy.com.