Garrett Nussmeier felt like he was having one of the worst games of his career until his last two plays turned everything around.
He threw a touchdown pass to Aaron Anderson in the final seconds of regulation to tie the game, then connected with Kyren Lacy for a 25-yard touchdown on No. 13 LSU’s first play in overtime, leading to a thrilling 29-26 comeback win against No. 9 Mississippi on Saturday night.
“Hopefully, this will be a huge growth moment for me in taking my game to the next level,” Nussmeier said. “I played bad, but we had a chance to win the ball game and I had to focus on that.”
The winning touchdown marked the first time LSU (5-1, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) led in the game, and fans rushed onto the field to celebrate a victory that put the Tigers back in the conversation for the College Football Playoff.
“This league’s wide open and I think we took a huge step,” Nussmeier said. “The Tigers are real. We proved that tonight.”
Despite struggling for most of the game and throwing two interceptions, Nussmeier finished with 337 passing yards and three touchdowns. Two of those touchdowns came on the last two plays he executed.
“There were struggles and there were mistakes but we found a way,” Nussmeier said. “We have shown throughout the year that we have a tough team that really cares.”
Jaxson Dart passed for 284 yards and a touchdown, and Ulysses Bentley IV scored on a 50-yard run on a fourth-down play for Mississippi (5-2, 1-2), which faced a significant setback in its hopes for winning the conference or earning a CFP spot.
Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin expressed his disappointment to the team, saying, “This sucks guys. I feel for you.”
“I don’t really have a lot of positives for you,” Kiffin added. “It’s easier if you get beat by a couple of scores. This was like our game. We had the game and let it slip away. To go into the bye 6-1, or whatever it is, in really good shape and get healthy, would have been great. This one will be hard. It will be around forever.”
Ole Miss was just one play away from winning in the closing minutes of regulation, but Nussmeier kept the drive alive by completing a fourth-and-6 pass to Mason Taylor, which he finished with a 23-yard touchdown pass to Anderson with 27 seconds remaining.
