LSU came out of Saturday night’s matchup with Ole Miss carrying more than a loss. The Tigers also left with a string of injuries that could reshape the rest of their season.
The biggest blow is Dashawn Spears, who went down awkwardly in the second quarter when his leg bent with his foot planted. He could not walk off the field, and on Sunday it was confirmed that he tore his ACL and will miss the remainder of the season.
Spears’ absence forced a quick adjustment on the LSU defense. Tamarcus Cooley slid into the STAR role Spears had been handling, while Jhase Thomas stepped in for Cooley.
The Tigers were hit again later in the fourth quarter when Trey’Dez Green took a hard shot directly to his knee from a Rebel defender’s helmet. He also could not walk off on his own and was essentially carried off with almost no pressure on his right leg.
Green was emotional as he left, and his future initially looked uncertain. But his mom later posted on Facebook with good news: nothing was torn for the tight end.
He is expected to miss some time, but it appears he should be able to return later in the season.
Oregon transfer Zach Grace took over for Green on the final two drives, though LSU will need to get creative in how it fills that gap going forward.
There was one more difficult update on Sunday night. Phillip Wright III, who was injured in the second half against Louisiana Tech last week and later returned to the sideline in the fourth quarter with a noticeable limp, is facing season-ending surgery.
In Other News...
Ole Miss Reels As Two Student Deaths Leave Alarming Questions Unanswered
Ole Miss is dealing with a sobering and unsettling start to the week after confirming the deaths of two male students, ages 18 and 20, following a weekend on campus. Law enforcement is running two separate investigations into the incidents, while university officials have asked the community to hold off on speculation as social media chatter has raced ahead of the facts.
Authorities have said packaged kratom was recovered at both scenes, but they have not linked it to either death, and official autopsy and toxicology results are still pending. For a campus trying to absorb two losses at once, the unanswered questions only deepen the unease, with investigators now working to piece together what happened while the university waits for clearer answers. [Read more 🡒]
Jaxson Darts Scary NFL Injury Leaves One Big Question For Ole Miss Fans
Jaxson Darts first real scare as an NFL starter arrived Monday night when the Giants quarterback went down with a sprained MCL against the Rams. The initial relief was that X-rays came back negative, and the next step was an MRI on Tuesday to get a clearer read on the knee and how long he might be sidelined. For Ole Miss fans, it is the kind of update that lands hard because Darts rise from Oxford to the pros has made him one of the programs most closely watched former Rebels.
Giants officials are expecting him to miss some time, but the early signs pointed away from anything season-ending. Even so, the injury leaves one big question hanging over both New York and the Ole Miss fan base: how quickly can Dart get back on the field and keep building on the momentum he had started to create? For a quarterback with as much attention on him as Dart, every week away only sharpens the curiosity about what comes next. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Loss Just Took On A Bigger Meaning In The SEC Race
Ole Miss has kept its early-season momentum rolling, and now the conversation around the Rebels has gone well beyond the AP Poll. ESPNs Rece Davis said on The Pat McAfee Show that he believes Ole Miss should be No. 1 in the country, pointing to the Rebels recent wins over LSU and Louisville as the backbone of that case. For a team that sits No. 4 in the AP rankings, that kind of national praise only adds to the sense that Ole Miss has already built one of the sports more compelling resumes.
The timing also matters with SEC play about to sharpen everything. Ole Miss heads into a conference matchup with Florida, and both teams enter at 3-0, which gives the game an early-season edge in the league race. A win would only deepen the argument that those victories over LSU and Louisville mean even more now, especially with the SEC standings starting to take shape and every unbeaten record carrying extra weight. [Read more 🡒]