I’m not sure it’s possible to butcher a late-game situation any worse than LSU did Saturday in its 25-23 loss to Ole Miss.
Where do you start?
Let’s start with Brandon LaFell’s 26-yard catch, which gave the Tigers a first down at the Ole Miss 32 with right around a minute to play.
With two timeouts remaining, and the Ole Miss defense on its heels, the Tigers didn't attempt another run. They tried to pass the next two plays, on second down, quarterback Jordan Jefferson was sacked from the back side for a 9-yard loss.
The Tigers tried a screen pass on third down that was stuffed for lost yardage, and LSU wasted about 17 seconds before calling their final timeout.
Left with just nine seconds, Jefferson completed a deep ball to Terrance Toliver on fourth-and-26 down to the Rebels’ 6-yard line.
The clock stopped with one second to play to reset the chains, and the Tigers looked lost. They weren’t ready to send their field goal team out. So instead of attempting another play and trying to score a touchdown, Jefferson tried to spike the ball, and the clock ran out.
There just seemed to be a lot of confusion on the LSU sideline those final few seconds, and even the Tigers’ play-calling on their failed two-point conversion try minutes earlier was questionable.
A penalty on Ole Miss moved the ball just outside the 1, and with the Rebels showing blitz, the Tigers tried a low-percentage fade pass into the corner of the end zone that was incomplete.
The Tigers have won a bunch of games under Les Miles in the final seconds.
This time, it was a clinic in what not to do in the final seconds.