Ole Miss and LSU fought in one of the most electric shootouts of the 2023 college football season on Saturday night. However, the officiating put a bit of a stain on what had otherwise been an absolutely incredible contest.
Tigers quarterback Jayden Daniels, in the midst of a monster game, threw a deep ball standing just about on the Ole Miss 40-yard line, and wideout Brian Thomas Jr. seemed to make an outstanding toe-tapping grab along the right edge of the end zone. Junior cornerback Zamari Walton of Ole Miss protested the ruling of a completion, as defenders so often present arguments without merit, but it seems that he may have had a point. Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin clearly agreed, as he gave the officials an earful after the call was confirmed.
This was ruled an LSU touchdown.
Did they make the right call? ?
(via @LSUfootball)pic.twitter.com/OWVuwOw41D
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) October 1, 2023
The ruling on the field was a touchdown, but it appears that while Thomas definitely touched a foot down in bounds, he also bobbled the ball on the way down, not fully securing possession until his other foot hit ground out of bounds. The touchdown put LSU up 49-40, a huge difference as it grew their lead to two scores. The Rebels have since struck back with a touchdown of their own, but if the play in question had been correctly officiated, the recent Rebels score could've been a go-ahead strike, instead of just cutting down on the deficit.
Including the play in question, Daniels had already accounted for 350 yards through the air and almost 100 on the ground, with five total touchdowns to go along with those gaudy yardage numbers. Thomas reeled in eight catches for 124 yards and three touchdowns, a true banner day with or without the questionable touchdown grab.
Fortunately for the Rebels, the blown call didn't result in disaster, as Ole Miss held on for a 55-49 win to take down the Tigers.
