The Reveille 10-2-23

‘OLE MISS WAS BETTER’

LSUReveille.com

@lsureveille

‘WE DIDN’T MAKE THE PLAYS’

B-16 Hodges Hall

Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, La. 70803

LSU defense gives up over 700 yards, has historically bad showing

BY PETER RAUTERKUS @peter_rauterkus

OXFORD, Miss.—The phrase “defense wins championships” may be a cliche, but when you give up over 700 yards of total offense it’s hard to win anything, even if your offense scores 49 points.

LSU’s offense showed shades of its 2019 dominance against Ole Miss. Jayden Daniels threw for a career high 414 yards, and the Tigers rushed for another 223 yards.

The defense, however, showed shades of its 2020 self, only worse. Not even the historically bad 2020 defense gave up 700 yards in a game and Saturday night was the highest point total LSU gave up since a 55-17 loss to Alabama in 2020.

“If you like a lot of points, I guess you liked the game. I didn’t like it,” head coach Brian Kelly said.

Kelly struggled to come up with

adjectives to describe how he and the team felt after the loss. Given what happened, that doesn’t come as much of a surprise.

LSU’s defense never looked comfortable.

Ole Miss scored on five of its first six drives and had 31 points before the first half ended. Not just that, but the Rebels gained 387 yards of total offense in the first half, including 145 rushing yards, an area where Ole Miss was inconsistent through its first four games.

Coming into the LSU game, star running back Quinshon Judkins was averaging just 3 yards per carry and had yet to run for 100 yards in a game this season.

Against LSU, Judkins was unstoppable. The sophomore ran for 177 yards and led Ole Miss to a 317yard performance on the ground.

“He made us miss a lot, and we’re just gonna have to get better at tackling and really just playing downhill on defense,” LSU defen-

sive tackle Mekhi Wingo said.

When it wasn’t Judkins, it was Ulysses Bentley IV. Bentley ran for 90 yards on just nine carries, and gashed LSU for a 43-yard touchdown. His speed contrasted Judkins’ powerful running style, and LSU had no answer.

On top of what Ole Miss did running the ball, quarterback Jaxson Dart had arguably the best game of his career. He threw for 389 yards and four touchdowns without throwing an interception or being sacked once during the game.

In Ole Miss’ previous game, Alabama forced Dart into mistakes by forcing him to high-leverage throws with pressure in his face. LSU wasn’t able to duplicate that, and Dart made the Tigers pay.

The Ole Miss offensive line that was considered its weakness through four games dominated LSU. The Tigers struggled to get pressure all game, which allowed Dart to slowly pick apart LSU’s outmatched secondary.

Ole Miss’ receivers constantly ran wide open down the field, led by Lafayette, Louisiana, native Tre Harris. He caught eight passes for 153 yards, leading all receivers in the game.

The biggest issue was tackling. Missed tackles killed LSU in both the run and passing game, creating eight plays of 20 or more yards. The secondary is where most of the missed tackles occurred, allowing 10-yard plays to turn into 20- or 30-yard plays.

Earlier in the week, Kelly said being assignment-sound and disciplined on defense were keys in the game, but neither of those things seemed to happen.

“We didn’t make the plays that we needed to make,” Kelly said

after the game. “Those guys were either one on one or in a position to make a play and Ole Miss was better.”

Not only did LSU consistently miss tackles, but the Tigers frequently had busted coverages, allowing receivers to run wide open. Between those plays and the missed tackles, Ole Miss stretched the field with ease.

Kelly explained most of the mistakes as a product of inexperience on defense. Most of LSU’s secondary consists of either freshmen or transfers, and even through five games, the group still lacks cohesion.

“We’re playing with inexperienced young players. And that’s who we have, there’s nobody else walking through the door,” Kelly said. “These are the guys that have to play for us and we have to continue to develop them.”

That’s the concerning part for LSU.

There are no trades in college football. There is no waiver wire. If LSU’s issues are personnel related, they’re not going to be completely fixed during the season. But LSU still has a lot to play for.

The Tigers dropped to 3-2 with the loss, but with only one Southeastern Conference loss, a division title isn’t mathematically out of the cards yet. With inexperience, struggle is expected. Giving up 706 yards of total offense is never expected for LSU, but the positive takeaway is that it’s hard to get worse than that.

“We’re not canceling the season,” Kelly said. “It was gut wrenching, it was difficult of a loss and our guys felt it too. We’re going to go back to work and we’re going to work our tails off to get better. “

NEWSROOM (225) 578-4811

Editor in Chief CLAIRE SULLIVAN

Managing Editor LAUREN MADDEN

Digital Editor JOHN BUZBEE

News Editor CROSS HARRIS

Deputy News Editor OLIVER BUTCHER

Sports Editor PETER RAUTERKUS

Deputy Sports Editor MACKAY SUIRE

Entertainment Editor MOLLY TERRELL

Opinion Editor COLIN FALCON

Multimedia Editor MATTHEW PERSCHALL

Production Editor MADISON COOPER

Chief Designer EMMA DUHÉ

ADVERTISING (225) 578-6090

Layout/Ad Design BEAU MARTINEZ

Layout/Ad Design SAMUEL NGUYEN

CORRECTIONS & CLARIFICATIONS

The Reveille misspelled student Sen. Taylor Davlin’s name in the Sept. 28 edition. It has been corrected online.

ABOUT THE REVEILLE

The Reveille is written, edited and produced solely by students of Louisiana State University. The Reveille is an independent entity of the Office of Student Media within the Manship School of Mass Communication. A single issue of The Reveille is free from multiple sites on campus and about 25 sites off campus. To obtain additional copies, please visit the Office of Student Media in B-39 Hodges Hall or email studentmedia@ lsu.edu. The Reveille is published biweekly during the fall, spring and summer semesters, except during holidays and final exams. The Reveille is funded through LSU students’ payments of the Student Media fee.

REAGAN COTTEN / The Reveille

LSU football junior linebacker Greg Penn III (30) celebrates a stop on Sept. 30 during LSU’s 55-49 loss against Ole Miss in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss.

REAGAN COTTEN / The Reveille

The LSU football defense chases after a player on Sept. 30 during LSU’s 55-49 loss against Ole Miss in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss.

PRIMARY APPROACHES

Louisiana gubernatorial candidates make last push for governor

BY TYLER LAULAND @TLauland

Louisiana gubernatorial candidates made a final push at a debate Thursday to win over voters two days ahead of the start of early voting.

The following candidates participated in the debate hosted by Louisiana Public Broadcasting in Baton Rouge:

• State Sen. Sharon Hewitt, a Republican

• Hunter Lundy, trial lawyer and a political independent

• State Treasurer John Schroder, a Republican

• Stephen Waguespack, former business lobby head and a Republican

• Shawn Wilson, former state transportation secretary and a Democrat

Absent from the debate was Attorney General Jeff Landry, a Republican who leads in the polls. He was invited but declined, citing a prior commitment at a meet-and-greet in Lake Charles.

Education

To begin, the candidates discussed how Louisiana’s education system should be improved

to meet the needs of the state’s workforce.

Waguespack said it’s importat to listen to employers is the first step and show the youth that there are great jobs to be had.

Hewitt cited thousands of job openings currently unfilled in Louisiana. She said she be -

lieves the state needs to retrain older adults to fill these positions and offer industry-based certifications to prepare young students for the future.

Climate and economy

Schroder said he doesn’t “buy into the climate change that corporate America’s trying

to sell.” He said the federal government is taking Louisiana’s money and investing in China and Venezuela but doesn’t want to invest locally.

“Reality is, fossil fuels are going to be here for a long time, well past anybody in this room,

see DEBATE, page 4

GUBERNATORIAL PRIMARY

Early voting begun

BY AIDAN ANTHAUME @aidanth04

Louisiana residents can cast an early vote in the gubernatorial primary election beginning Saturday, Sept. 30, and continuing through Oct. 7 with the exception of Sunday, Oct. 1.

Early voting is a process that allows residents to cast their ballots before the gubernatorial primary election on Oct. 14. Any registered voter can cast an early ballot.

Early voting can help accommodate individuals with busy schedules, work commitments or personal obligations that may prevent them from voting in the primary.

For many, early voting is simply more convenient.

“As a student, my schedule can be unpredictable, and I may have classes or other things to do on Election Day,” said political science major Makenna Hartzell. “Early voting allows me to plan ahead and make sure I don’t miss the

Rep. Troy Carter wants to close the HBCU athletics funding gap

BY PIPER HUTCHINSON LOUISIANA ILLUMINATOR

U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, DLouisiana, has introduced legislation to require the federal Department of Education to provide grants to schools with minimal athletics budgets, a move he believes will create equity between athletics departments at HBCUs and schools with majority white student bodies.

The grants would be available to any school with an endowment lower than $900 million and an athletic department that brings in less than $20 million annually.

“Supporting athletic programs at HBCUs would attract talented student-athletes and sports administrators by offering them the best athletic and academic experiences possible,” Carter said in a press release. “In turn, HBCUs would generate more revenue to provide the support and resources that their students deserve.”

Carter compared the athletics programs at LSU, a primarily white institution, and Southern

University, a historically Black university. Both are in Baton Rouge, which is partially in Carter’s district.

LSU’s athletic department has an operating budget of nearly $200 million, enabling it to build state of the art facilities. Southern, which has been historically underfunded by the state, has an $18.5 million athletics budget. Despite this disparity — and the fact LSU is one of the few athletic departments in the nation to turn a profit — LSU has still successfully looked to the state for help paying for its athletic facilities.

“HBCUs cannot compete with these programs given their current budgets,” Carter said. “Talented student athletes often opt for PWIs (predominantly white institutions) when making their college decisions because of the difference in athletic program offerings.”

Southern played LSU in football for the first time last year, despite the campuses being just 15 minutes apart from each other. The Tigers drubbed the Jaguars, 65-17.

While the LSU athletic de -

partment is capable of being self-sufficient, more than half of Southern’s sports budget comes from institutional support and student fees.

Carter’s grant program would provide minimum grants of $250,000 that could be used to build, maintain or enhance athletics facilities or to purchase

equipment or uniforms.

His bill faces extremely long odds of making it through a divided Congress, but comes at an interesting time in higher education where state and federal leaders, as well as private donors, are trying to right historical wrongs.

Historically Black institu-

tions play an important role in educating Black Americans, offering a community to many, but were created to further a segregated society.

Across the nation, HBCUs have been historically underfunded. While LSU and Southsee FUNDING, page 4

TARUN KAKARALA / The Reveille

Louisiana gubernatorial candidates Stephen Waguespack and Hunter Lundy speak to a reporter Sep. 29 at the Public Broadcasting Studio on Perkins Road in Baton Rouge, La.

DEBATE, from page 3

so I’m willing to embrace whatever industry that wants to come to Louisiana,” Schroder said.

Wilson, the race’s lone Democrat in the race, has an allof-the-above approach when it comes to diversifying Louisiana’s economy. He said there is an environmental imperative to be better and that billions of dollars being spent in the state will help Louisiana become a lot more energy efficient and independent.

FUNDING, from page 3

ern are both land grant universities, established by states that received federal land to create schools with a focus on teaching agriculture, science, engineering and military science, the state has often failed to meet its federal matching requirements for Southern, leaving the institution to try to do more with less.

In 1972, tensions over that inequity spilled out onto the football field, with student protestors interrupting a Southern game. Protests continued to disrupt university operations in the subsequent days, culminating in the death of two students at the hand of law enforcement officers whose identities were

Insurance crisis

The most pressing issue of the night, many candidates expressed, was the insurance crisis.

Lundy said he has seen insurance companies lie many times, saying these companies have made millions of dollars off the backs of Louisiana residents due to hurricane claims.

“We will reduce the policies” Lundy said. “We will tackle FEMA, and join in with our U.S. senators to reduce flood insurance.”

never determined.

In the half a century since the tragedy, Louisiana has made small efforts to try to close the funding gap but has struggled with political and budgetary issues.

Carter’s legislation is cosponsored by Democratic Reps. Alma Adams of North Carolina, James Clyburn of South Carolina, Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, Shelia Jackson Lee of Texas, Yvette Clarke of New York, Hank Johnson of Georgia, Terri Sewell of Alabama, Donald Payne of New Jersey, Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey, Dwight Evans of Pennsylvania, Donald Davis of North Carolina, Glenn Ivey of Maryland, David Scott of Georgia and Jennifer McClellan of Virginia.

Hewitt supported a free market approach when tackling the insurance crisis.

“Companies don’t want to write policies here, because a commissioner is establishing the rates, you need to be able to run your own business portfolio by setting your own rate.” she said.

Crime

There was a general consensus among the candidates that crime rates are a major problem for the state and that reform

must happen. Some of those proposed changes were to raise police salaries, invest more in education and stop catch-andrelease programs within the Louisiana justice system.

Wilson called out the absent frontrunner, Landry, saying that when people disagree with him, Wilson will not ask them to leave the state as he said Landry does.

Wilson also commented on inclusivity in the state.

“I’m asking folks to have a conversation about inclusive -

ness and about embracing who we are and what makes us the rich culture that Louisiana has evolved to be,” said Wilson.

Voting

The primary election will be held on Oct. 14. Early voting begun Saturday, Sept. 30, and continues through Oct. 7, excluding Sunday, Oct. 1. If no single candidate wins more than 50% of the vote, a general election between the top two vote recipients will be held on Nov. 18.

MATTHEW PERSCHALL FOR LA ILLUMINATOR

A sign reads “Vote Here” on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, outside of the LSU Laboratory School on East Campus Drive in Baton Rouge, La.

opportunity.”

Casting an early vote can also alleviate poll congestion on the official voting day. Long lines and overcrowded polling stations can be deterrents for potential voters.

“It just feels good to get it out the way,” said pre-medicine freshman Sydney Nelson. “I don’t have to worry about it in the future.”

Because early voting allows voters to cast their ballots ahead of time, it also reduces the risk of missing out on voting due to last-minute emergencies, illness or unexpected events that might arise.

The deadline to register to vote in person or by mail was

on Sept. 13, and the deadline to register to vote online passed on Sept. 23.

Voting locations for East Baton Rouge residents include:

• The Motor Vehicle Building at 2250 Main St.

• The Fire Station Building at 11010 Coursey Blvd.

• The Louisiana State Archives Building at 3851 Essen Lane

• The Central Branch Library at 11260 Joor Road

• Baton Rouge City Hall at 222 St. Louis St., Room 607.

More information about the gubernatorial election can be found at the Louisiana secretary of state website.

ENTERTAINMENT

DJ Roügh is changing

BY EMILY BRACHER @emily_bracher_

Tailgating season has begun, and DJ Roügh has made the Sigma Chi tent just like any bar in Tigerland.

Senior Nick Simpson, or on stage, “DJ Roügh,” started music when he was a high school student in Mandeville. He started taking it seriously and DJing at house parties and other gigs his sophomore year of college at LSU. His journey started with his dissatisfaction with high school parties. He said people would just stand around, not doing much, and he didn’t like that. He enjoyed dancing and expected that to get better in college.

“There wasn’t a DJ, and they were doing the same thing as high school,” Simpson said. “So I was like, I want to learn how to DJ so people are actually dancing.”

Simpson has played at Fred’s Bar & Grill in Tigerland frequently this semester and will be opening for Hippie Sabotage there on Oct. 12. When he’s DJing, he said his Sigma Chi fraternity brothers are always there to support him,

the game this LSU tailgate season

which helps because he said he strays towards the “shy” side.

“Whenever I’m playing at Fred’s or something, they’ll promote it and show up,” he said. “Even if there is not a crowd, it’s them, so it makes it way more comfortable for me.”

Simpson is a film major and said he will have to see where this takes him before he is open to making it his career. He said this path isn’t his only plan, but it might be if his gigs keep getting bigger.

The rest of his semester includes more gigs at Fred’s, a few at The Revelry and other parties around Baton Rouge. He is dropping his first song on Oct. 29.

Simpson’s biggest advice for college students interested in DJing is to start by just buying a soundboard.

“That’s all you need to start, and then you just have to practice a lot until you get comfortable with it,” Simpson said.

Sophomore Marco Petroni, one of Simpson’s fraternity brothers who has watched him grow as an artist, said Simpson contributes a “tremendous amount” to the planning, development and

execution of their social events.

Other fraternity brothers praise Simpson’s impact.

“The tailgates get bigger, parties get more energetic and the bars usually fill out by the stage,”

senior Holden Horridge said. “It’s also been cool seeing him go from only playing a few parties here and there to playing at Fred’s and other bars most weekends.”

DJing may not have been what Simpson planned to do during his time at LSU, but, for now, it’s how he’ll spend the days before he walks across the graduation stage.

EMILY BRACHER / The Reveille

Simpson at one of his gigs.

Photos by Reagan Cotten

A LOSS ON THE ROAD

LSU football fell 55-49 to Ole Miss Saturday at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford,

Mississipppi.

LSU football junior wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. (11) looks out after a touchdown.

LSU football freshman cornerback Ashton Stamps (26) and LSU football senior linebacker Omar Speights (1) tackle their opponent.

LSU football fifth-year senior running back John Emery Jr. (4) avoids his opponent.

LSU football head coach Brian Kelly walks onto the field.

LSU football junior running back Logan Diggs (3) sprints down the field.

LSU football junior running back Logan Diggs (3) avoids the tackle.

LSU football freshman linebacker Whit Weeks (40) tackles his opponent.

LSU football freshman safety Ryan Yaites (21) celebrates a blocked pass.

LSU football junior running back Logan Diggs (3) jumps.

‘Not the standard’: LSU football falls to Ole Miss 55-49

BY MACKAY SUIRE @macthetiger

In what was arguably the biggest game thus far in its season, LSU traveled north to Oxford, Mississippi, to take on Ole Miss. This was the first time since 2003 that the two teams have faced each other in a top-20 matchup. That was Eli Manning’s last year as a Rebel.

Unfortunately for LSU, however, this game’s outcome wasn’t the same as that Oxford game in 2003. The Rebels took down the Tigers 55-49.

“If you like a lot of points, I guess you like the game,” head coach Brian Kelly said following the loss. “I didn’t like it, particularly. It’s not the way I like to play football, but hats off to Ole Miss. They made a couple of plays at the end that they needed to and deserved to win.”

Ole Miss started the night in a dominant fashion. Less than five minutes into the first quarter, quarterback Jaxson Dart fired a short 4-yard pass to his receiver Quinshon Judkins, noting the first score of the game. The Rebels marked their territory early, displaying a type of dominance in all aspects of

the ball that the Tigers seemed to lack, especially in the first quarter.

“They know that that’s not the standard, and I expect them to come back Monday ready to make sure they address and we address as coaches what we need to do better as well,” Kelly said.

Though Ole Miss was coming off of a tough loss against Alabama, the Rebels played as if they had something to prove — and prove it

they did.

Ole Miss brags a brutal passrushing game. With LSU’s ever-wavering offensive line, it was obvious that the Tigers would have to solidify their line of defense quickly and protect their quarterback, Jayden Daniels. The line struggled, though, to do just that throughout the entire game.

The Rebels showcased a dominant offense, led by Dart and his

plethora of receivers. Along with Judkins, Jordan Watkins, Tre Harris, Dayton Wade, Caden Prieskorn and Zakhari Franklin also contributed points to the scoreboard for Ole Miss. LSU’s defense, as it has been, was nearly non-existent, allowing wide-open routes and vulnerable receivers to move without a scratch.

“We were in position,” Kelly said. “We didn’t make the plays that we needed to make. Those guys were either one-on-one or in a position to make a play. Ole Miss was better.”

Fortunately for LSU, however, its defense eventually started to tighten up. Though it wasn’t perfect, neither was Ole Miss’. The Tigers matched the strides that the Rebels were setting.

The game eventually became a battle between the offenses. When one team scored, the other quickly responded either with a long drive or a touchdown of their own.

In total, the Rebels collected a quite impressive total of 389 passing yards. They rushed for 317 yards.

LSU collected a total of 414 passing yards. It rushed for 223 yards.

Daniels put together another

solid performance. He manages to keep the offense going even when the connections between his receivers are lacking. Fans watch week after week as he hurls himself through defenders. Like a cat with nine lives, the quarterback always comes out unscathed.

In the second quarter of the game, Daniels took his team’s offense by the reins. Maybe it was frustration or maybe it was necessity, but the quarterback seemed to showcase all of the qualities fans were unhappy to witness in his first season at LSU: He rushed. Daniels ultimately accounted for 99 rushing yards. Of Daniels’ 36 attempts, 27 were completed.

That sudden energy from Daniels sent a jolt through the offense, creating the unanticipated high scoring game fans saw.

The Tigers are hoping to glue back together the broken pieces of their team, on both sides of the ball, before they hit the road again for yet another tough Southeastern Conference matchup.

LSU’s next game will be a battle of the Tigers as the team travels to Columbia, Missouri. That game is set to take place on Oct. 7 at 11 a.m.

Three things that went wrong for LSU’s defense in Oxford

BY JASON WILLIS @JasonWillis4

It’s easy to nitpick missed opportunities after a close loss.

There were plenty of those in LSU’s 55-49 loss to Ole Miss. In a game decided by a razor-thin margin, an extra contribution on either side of the ball could’ve turned the tide.

The LSU offense, for example, fumbled within opponent territory, failed to convert an end-of-half drive into points, couldn’t hold onto the ball for a closeout drive at the end of the fourth quarter and still had a chance to win the game from the opponent’s 16-yard-line.

In his post-game press conference, though, head coach Brian Kelly was quick to clarify who deserved the brunt of the blame.

“We didn’t make the plays that we needed to make [on defense],” Kelly said. “You could put it all on the offense and say, if we convert a couple drives there in the second half, we win the game. It’d be easy to say that and let our defense, you know, they did what they did.”

At the end of the day, Kelly noted, the offense played well enough to win, and the defense didn’t.

It wasn’t a hard distinction to make. The 55 points and 706 yards Ole Miss piled up served as a daunting indicator that the LSU defense, to put it generously, wasn’t up to snuff.

The bar for the Tiger offense shouldn’t have to be perfection. Seven touchdowns on 12 drives is the type of offensive output that usually wins games.

Unfortunately, LSU’s defensive performance completely erased the offense’s margin for error. The Tiger defense struggled in all aspects of the game, so much so that it’s hard to break down what specifically went wrong without simply concluding that it all did.

With that said, here are three things that particularly hampered the LSU defense during its 55-49 loss to Ole Miss.

Blown coverages and missed tackles from shuffling secondary LSU’s defense got off to a rough start before the game began when cornerback Duce Chestnut was announced unavailable for the game. On the game’s first defensive series, starting cornerback Zy Alexander went down with an injury that took him out of the game for the rest of the half.

That left true freshman Ashton Stamps, sophomore Laterrance Welch and sophomore Denver Harris as the only options for LSU at corner. Though Alexander would eventually return and perform admirably, the Rebels picked on LSU’s weakness on the boundaries and took advantage of the missing players.

Though it’s up for debate how much better a fully healthy secondary would’ve done against an Ole Miss offense that ranks among the best in the country at generating big plays, the shuffling was certainly a detriment. LSU’s lack of depth at the position was put on full display.

“That’s who we have. There’s nobody else walking through the door,” Kelly said. “We have to keep

rolling them out there, and they got to get thick-skinned.”

On a few occasions, Ole Miss challenged LSU’s cornerbacks in one-on-one coverage, including a 24-yard completion caught by Tre Harris over Welch that put the Rebels in range to take the lead on their last drive and signaled the beginning of the end for LSU.

However, for the most part, that wasn’t necessary. Receivers popped open for Ole Miss all night.

LSU’s secondary had severe issues with communication, with Ole Miss’ first touchdown coming on a play in which no one covered running back Quinshon Judkins in the flat.

The third touchdown came when Jordan Watkins found a hole behind the linebackers and in between the two high safeties, with no one seeming to want to claim the receiver.

Misunderstandings of responsibilities such as these were frequent and demonstrated the lack of synergy from an inexperienced LSU defensive backfield.

Ole Miss finished the game with 389 passing yards (234 coming after the catch) on an astronomical 15 yards per completion.

Failure to get pressure on Jaxson Dart

As poorly as the secondary played, the defensive backs should never have been in the position they were in. They got almost no support from the pass-rush and, instead, all the pressure was on LSU’s pass coverage to hold up.

LSU finished with only four pressures and no sacks, just a week

after Ole Miss gave up five sacks in a 24-10 loss to Alabama. The Rebels’ offensive line looked overpowered against Alabama, and LSU was figured to have the athletes to push around the struggling linemen in this game.

That advantage didn’t materialize. Quarterback Jaxson Dart was kept clean, and, unlike KJ Jefferson the week before, he didn’t need to work very hard to evade pressure.

Dart wasn’t under duress and didn’t have to scramble often, barely using his rushing ability that had him ranked as the Southeastern Conference’s 10th-leading rusher coming into the game. Dart was able to be comfortable in the pocket and make quick decisions to pick apart the exposed LSU secondary.

Part of that was due to a wellschemed game by Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss staff. The team kept up tempo and Dart got the ball out quickly.

“You’re gonna be out there. We train all year for this,” defensive tackle Mekhi Wingo said. “I think they did a great job of really going up tempo and really getting the d-line running, a lot of outside passes.”

Part of it came from issues with the utilization of Harold Perkins Jr., who again wasn’t consistently allowed to do what he does best in getting after the quarterback and was inexplicably missing from the field on some key downs.

Ultimately, LSU’s best players couldn’t get the job done. The front seven has been considered the strength of the defense all season,

but LSU’s stalwarts were non-factors. Against a struggling Ole Miss offensive line, that’s concerning. Inability to get off the field on crucial downs

When it came to third downs and red zone downs, the LSU defense struggled despite it being one of the Rebels’ most noteworthy weaknesses. Ole Miss came into the game converting just 35.4% of its third downs into a first and 57.9% of its red zone possessions into touchdowns.

That deficiency would seem to have given LSU an easier time, but the Ole Miss offense looked calm and collected on the game’s most important plays. Despite an average distance of 7.7 yards, the Rebels converted nine of their 16 third downs, including a four for seven mark on tries with greater than nine yards to gain.

In the red zone, Ole Miss converted five of its six tries into touchdowns. Though LSU hasn’t been an elite red zone defense this year, the limited space of the red zone has at times allowed LSU’s superior athleticism, strength and closing speed to shine.

Instead, Ole Miss routinely pushed around the LSU defense in the close quarters and found wide open receivers on busted coverages.

Ole Miss looked confident and dominated in aspects of the game that it previously struggled in coming off a loss that threatened its identity. Now, LSU is faced with a similar situation going forward. How it responds will define its season.

REAGAN COTTEN / The Reveille

LSU football senior quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) rushes down the field on Sept. 30 during LSU’s 55-49 loss against Ole Miss in Vaught Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss.

G I V E A W A Y S ,

OPINION

Spice up your boring outfit by putting on a suit of armor

ing a full suit of armor is a great way to test your strength and endurance. There’s a reason fullbody armor has a reputation for being cumbersome; it takes a strong person to pull it off.

Back in the good old days, society at large knew how to dress to impress. There were regency ball gowns, togas and the ever-chic potato sack for the less fortunate. I have a proposition: We, as a civilization, should collectively agree to bring back metal armor. Yes, the silver, shining, protective armor that warriors wore needs a renaissance.

The fashion scene is the perfect place for armor plating’s reintroduction. It has never been more diverse than now in terms of silhouettes and aesthetics, but it’s also never been so dull. The addition of silver armor into everyday wear would be stunning and add a hitherto unseen twist to the average outfit.

In fact, the main reason metal armor should come back is that fashion fans often pretend people have to adhere to an aesthetic. You have to be a Hot Topic emo, or a vanilla clean-girl, or a y2k baby-tee baddie, and that’s boring. Fashion should be fun, and

metal armor is nothing if not silly.

The biggest issue with metal armor is obtaining it. Where does one get a suit of armor?

Small businesses, of course.

The amount of armorsmiths that exist is genuinely astounding. Several are located on Etsy; many more are just a Google search away. Customers can shop from pre-made catalogs or special order something unique. And, while a little pricey, armor is an investment in your safety.

Metal armor also allows the average clothes wearer to experience

the meaning of camp. It would instantly elevate any outfit to something slightly silly and unique.

To the armor naysayers— those that would argue armor is impractical or, even worse, ugly—allow me to guide you through a few hypotheticals and show you the error of your ways.

Going out for a night on the town? Make sure your chainmail is under your jean shorts and bubblegum-pink crop top. No sword shall pierce you that night.

What about game day? Paint your armor purple and gold,

then adorn it with faux tiger skin. Show everyone that you stand with LSU on the football field and the battlefield.

Moving past the aesthetic value, imagine this: You have a very unique professor, one with a policy stating, “Students may duel me, and upon winning, I will award extra credit.” As a student, you should always take advantage of any opportunity to get extra credit, and it would be much easier to win the duel if you had on some combat-appropriate armor.

For gym enthusiasts, wear-

Armor coming back isn’t a totally ludicrous idea. Saman Bakayoko, a student at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, has been publicly styling her metal armor since August. She provides effortless camp with each revolutionary look she unveils and has garnered 1.7 million TikTok views doing it.

Bakayoko’s growing recognition proves two things: People are ready for and open to having fun with fashion, and metal armor may go from a niche microtrend to the new fashion norm. In the event that metal armor does come back, it will breathe fresh life into fashion. It will spark debates that push ideas further. It will introduce ceiling-shattering silhouettes that seem totally new but were actually created in the Middle Ages. It would also just be funny to see people wearing armor on campus.

Weak labor unions are out, striking for your rights is in

Fighting for a fair wage is in.

The American working class has unshackled the burdensome restraints big businesses put on them and gained the courage to strike for fair working conditions.

Throughout the previous century, America has seen the retreat of powerful labor unions that protect the average worker from injustice. We’ve seen businesses across the country gleefully commit wage theft, blatantly disregarding their responsibilities as employers to give employees the wages they were promised.

Yet there’s a glimmer of hope. Just last month, we saw UPS and the Teamsters Union successfully negotiate a new contract that would increase pay and ensure UPS drivers would no longer drive without air conditioning in the hot summer months.

UPS chose to prioritize profit

EDITORIAL BOARD

Claire Sullivan Editor in Chief Managing Editor Lauren Madden

Cross Harris News Editor

over the health of its employees for years by resisting calls to install air conditioning in delivery trucks, but the Teamsters weren’t having it. UPS workers knew that a fierce strike would cripple the company and its profits. Luckily, UPS acquiesced to the Teamsters’ demands.

A few weeks later, the United Auto Workers decided to up the ante. On Sept. 15, recently elected UAW President Shawn Fain called a strike at all three major unionized auto companies: Stellantis (which bought Chrysler), Ford and General Motors.

Fain has decided to use a new strategy of striking, dubbed the “stand up strike.” Instead of aiming for maximum damage to companies by calling all UAW workers to strike, Fain got less than 13,000 workers out of 145,000 to strike. This is a clever strategy. Fain strategically picked several factories that would hinder production while saving the costs needed to maintain the strike.

It’s a refreshing to see the American working class rise up

against companies that have been raking in profits no matter the cost. As we can see from the UAW strike, not only are workers eager to strike, but they are getting smarter at doing it.

And politicians are reacting to the successes of the labor unions.

President Joe Biden has endorsed the UAW strike, joining the picket line on Sept. 26. Despite the potential threat the strike poses to the U.S. economy, Biden chose to back the cause of the “average Joe.” And he’s right for doing so.

Even former President Abraham Lincoln, a generational hero for many GOP-ers, would side with Biden and labor.

Lincoln noted in his December 1861 address to Congress that “Labor is prior to and independent of capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.”

While Lincoln originally meant this in regard to slave labor, it remains relevant in our discus -

sion of the value of wage laborers today. We can’t allow businesses to be gluttonous when the foundation of our economy is the worker. The average productivity of workers has grown 3.7 times greater than their average pay since 1979, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

Unions have a tough road ahead. But with every successful bargaining agreement like the UPS Teamsters in August and Writer’s Guild recently, labor unions are making it clear to the American public that no government nor person can stop them from fight-

ing for fair wages and fair working conditions.

The current enthusiasm of workers is best described by the first stanza of the famous labor anthem “Solidarity Forever:” “When the union’s inspiration through the workers’ blood shall run, there can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun; yet what force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one, but the union makes us strong.”

Nathaniel Dela Peña is a 20-yearold political science and history senior from Alexandria.

Editorial Policies and Procedures Quote of the Week

Deputy News Editor Oliver Butcher

Colin Falcon Opinion Editor

is written, edited and produced solely by students of Louisiana State University. The Reveille is an independent entity of the Office of Student Media within the Manship School of Mass Communication. Signed opinions are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the editor, The Reveille or the university. Letters submitted for publication should be sent via e-mail to editor@lsu.edu or delivered to B-39 Hodges Hall. They must be 400 words or less. Letters must provide a contact phone number for verification purposes, which will not be printed. The Reveille reserves the right to edit letters and guest columns for space consideration while preserving the original intent. The Reveille also reserves the right to reject any letter without notification of the author. Writers must include their full names and phone numbers. The Reveille’s editor in chief, hired every semester by the LSU Student Media Board, has final authority on all editorial decisions.

“The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart.”

Robert Green Ingersoll American lawyer

and writer 1833 — 1899

The Reveille (USPS 145-800)

Garrett McEntee is an 18-year-old English freshman from Benton.

GRAPHIC BY MADDIE FITZMORRIS

GRAPHIC BY JACOB CHASTANT

Every election, your rights could be on the ballot. But you can’t vote if you aren’t registered.

Get #VoteReady and register to vote by visiting vote.org/chat-to-register