Look out, Alabama football. Brian Kelly's LSU Tigers are coming for the SEC West | Toppmeyer

BATON ROUGE, La. – Jaxson Dart’s pass appeared to be headed harmlessly to the turf in the end zone for an incompletion.

Joe Foucha had another idea. The LSU safety turned on the speed and stretched out his left hand. Into the Tiger’s left paw landed an interception that helped stop the Lane Train in its tracks.

Two weeks ago, Tiger Stadium morphed into a Big Orange party, as Tennessee whooped Brian Kelly’s squad while thousands of Vols fans sang triumphantly in the stands.

But Kelly’s first LSU team is nothing if not resilient, and by the fourth quarter Saturday, Tigers fans chanted “L-S-U! L-S-U!” after Kelly’s most impressive triumph in his debut tour of the SEC.

The Tigers looked unpolished in a season-opening loss to Florida State. They bounced back.

They got popped in the mouth by the Vols. They bounced back.

They fell behind by 14 points to Kiffin’s high-octane Rebels. They bounced back.

They bounced straight into first place in the SEC West.

That’s right, LSU and its first-year coach have a path in front of them that leads to the SEC Championship after this 45-20 victory over No. 7 Ole Miss (7-1, 3-1).

You would have had to have been practicing the Optimist Creed if you thought that possible after the sloppy way LSU opened the season at the Superdome in a loss to FSU.

And now?

Now, there’s a giant circle around Nov. 5.

That’s the date LSU (6-2, 4-1) will host No. 6 Alabama after having next weekend off. Kelly’s first taste of the Magnolia Bowl went down smoothly, and that creates juicier stakes for his inaugural experience of the Alabama rivalry.

TOPPMEYER:Look out, Alabama football. Brian Kelly's LSU Tigers are coming for the SEC West | Opinion

REPORT CARD:How LSU football's win over Ole Miss showed huge changes for Brian Kelly, Tigers in two weeks

LANE KIFFIN'S VIEW: 'You could kind of see this coming:' Everything Lane Kiffin said after Ole Miss football loss vs. LSU

Alabama has beaten LSU in 10 of the past 11 meetings. The year it didn’t, LSU went undefeated with one of the best teams in college football history.

Kelly’s team isn’t that, but it is durable.

This game became proof.

"We exerted our will against our opponent, which is part of what we’re building here," Kelly said. "We want a dominant mindset.”

Never had Dart looked better at the controls of Kiffin’s offense than he did throughout the first quarter. Dart completed 9 of his first 10 passes, and Ole Miss raced to a 17-3 lead.

But LSU's Jayden Daniels would prove the best quarterback on the field.

For portions of the game, LSU largely treated handoffs as a relic. Keeping the ball in Daniels’ hands was the smart move. He passed and ran his way into a dissection of an Ole Miss defense that started to unravel two weeks ago at Vanderbilt, continued to fizzle last week against Auburn and hit rock bottom in Tiger Stadium.

Daniels threw for 248 yards, ran for another 121 and proved the Rebels were no College Football Playoff contender.

Daniels enjoyed ample protection on most of his drop-backs. Given time, he kept finding holes in Ole Miss’ secondary or darting through running lanes. The Arizona State transfer continues to improve as he gains comfort in Kelly’s system.

"He was the catalyst," said Kelly, who described Daniels' play as assertive and aggressive and the offensive line's performance as “outstanding.”

BRIAN KELLY:Brian Kelly rails on instant replay, says 'it's ruining the game' on radio show

OLE MISS VS. LSU: Ole Miss football defenders Troy Brown, AJ Finley exit LSU game with injuries

Daniels got an assist from a defense that limited Ole Miss to a season-low 116 rushing yards.

Ole Miss entered the day atop the SEC West standings, but that position meant little until we learned more about the Rebels.

Kiffin had warned LSU would be “the most-talented opponent, by far,” that Ole Miss had faced, a reflection of the Rebels’ soft first half of the schedule.

That didn’t appear to be true throughout the first quarter, when the Rebels piled up 200 yards, but the Tigers started counterpunching and stiffened on defense, and Ole Miss had no answer.

The Rebels missed running back Zach Evans, one of their best players who did not play because of a leg injury. It lost a pair of key defenders, safety AJ Finley and linebacker Troy Brown, to injury during the game.

And it suffered from one important turnover.

Ole Miss trailed 24-20 when it reached the 9-yard line late in the third quarter with a chance to regain the lead.

Micah Baskerville landed a hit on Dart, and his pass into the end zone didn’t have much zip. It appeared he’d missed everyone.

Foucha somehow got to the ball in time. He stole a pass that looked like it belonged to the turf. His interception crushed the Rebels and put the Tigers on course for an interesting November.

Blake Toppmeyer is an SEC Columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.

If you enjoy Blake’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it. Also, check out his podcast, SEC Football Unfiltered, or access exclusive columns via the SEC Unfiltered newsletter.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: LSU football to challenge for SEC Championship after beating Ole Miss