Ole Miss Schedule Preview: Magnolia Bowl vs. LSU Tigers

The Ole Miss Rebels will face one of their stiffest tests of the year in Death Valley.

Sep 30, 2023; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels quarterback Jaxson Dart (2) runs the ball as LSU Tigers defensive back Sage Ryan (15) attempts to make the tackle during the second half at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports / Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports

The 2024 college football season is still about a month away, but with SEC Media Days in the rearview mirror, now is the time to begin previewing the Ole Miss Rebels' schedule.

Ole Miss is coming off an 11-2 season that saw it capture a Peach Bowl victory over the Penn State Nittany Lions in December. The Rebels return a plethora of talent from last year's team (including quarterback Jaxson Dart, wide receiver Tre Harris, tight end Caden Prieskron and others), but they also made a huge haul in the transfer portal to shore up some holes on its roster.

It's this combination of talent and a seemingly-managble SEC schedule that have many believing the Rebels can qualify for the new 12-team College Football Playoff.

Over the next few days, Ole Miss OnSI will preview each of the Rebels' 2024 regular season opponents. We last looked at the South Carolina Gamecocks, and today, we analyze the LSU Tigers.

LSU Tigers

Last season's Magnolia Bowl between LSU and Ole Miss was one for the ages. The Rebels rallied from a late deficit to claim a 55-49 win in Oxford, knocking off the eventual Heisman winner (Jayden Daniels) in the process.

That game can also be viewed as a sort of "spark plug" for the rest of Ole Miss' season. The Rebels would lose one more game in 2023 (at Georgia), but claiming the win over LSU helped down the stretch in a New Year's Six bowl bid.

Now, Daniels is gone to the NFL as are two of his top targets in Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. LSU has a projected win total of 9.5 this season (the same as Ole Miss) according to FanDuel, but with so many new faces on offense, the Tigers will have to prove their firepower anew in 2024.

The good news for the Bayou Bengals is that they return a lot of talented production on defense, including linebackers Major Burns, Greg Penn III and Harold Perkins. The bad news is that last year's unit in Baton Rouge was far from sublime as it ranked 105th in total defense among 130 FBS schools, surrendering 6.14 yards per play and over 400 yards per game.

Entering the season, Ole Miss likely possesses the better team on paper in comparison to the Tigers, but there is a great equalizer in this equation: the game takes place at night in Death Valley. Baton Rouge has not been kind to the Rebels throughout history (Ole Miss is 5-12 there since 1990 and has not won in Tiger Stadium since 2008), and night games there are notorious for being difficult environments for opposing teams.

If Ole Miss wants to prove itself as a College Football Playoff and national title contender, this game will present a stiff test in mid-October.

Kickoff for this game is scheduled for the night of Oct. 12, and television details have yet to be revealed for the matchup.