No. 7 Ole Miss football vs. LSU: Our scouting report, final score prediction

OXFORD − History will not be on Ole Miss football's side this weekend.

The No. 7 Rebels (7-0, 3-0 SEC) visit LSU (5-2, 3-1) at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge on Saturday (2:30 p.m., CBS).

With a win, Ole Miss will start a season 8-0 for the first time since 1962, and secure just its second win in Baton Rouge this century. Seven of Ole Miss' 10 losses at Tiger Stadium since 2000 have come in one-score games. And another close game should be on the horizon; USA TODAY Sports and the Tipico sportsbook list LSU as 2.5-point home favorites against the unbeaten Rebels.

Here are the Clarion Ledger's scouting report and final score prediction for Ole Miss vs. LSU.

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Ole Miss football offense vs. LSU defense

Through the first five weeks of the season, LSU was allowing just 14.8 points per game, including SEC wins while holding Mississippi State and Auburn below 20 points. The last two weeks, Tennessee and Florida have hung 40 and 35 points on LSU mostly on the back of dominant rushing attacks. The Vols and Gators combined for 473 yards and six touchdowns rushing on 82 carries.

This trend bodes well for an Ole Miss offense that leads all Power 5 teams with 271.1 rushing yards per game and is tied for the FBS lead with 24 rushing touchdowns. It's a similar situation as what the Rebels faced last week. Ole Miss came into a game against Auburn knowing that Auburn's best opponents had rushed for 245 and 292 yards, so the Rebels came out and hung 448 rushing yards on the Tigers.

If those trends continue, the Rebels have an obvious area to exploit. But the run battles don't tell the whole story. LSU has been adept at forcing turnovers (12 takeaways in seven games) and has a top-3 red zone defense in the SEC. If Ole Miss can get running downhill, the Rebels should be able to dictate the pace of the game. But LSU returns to its early-season form, it has the talent and speed to slow the Rebels down.

Ole Miss football defense vs. LSU offense

This matchup comes down to whether LSU's offense actually turned a corner last weekend. The Tigers put up 528 yards of offense and scored 45 points against Florida as quarterback Jayden Daniels accounted for three rushing and three passing touchdowns. The Tigers averaged 7.54 yards per play after averaging 4.67 yards per play in their first three SEC contests.

Right as LSU's offense seems to be figuring things out, Ole Miss' defense is regressing. The Rebels allowed more points (34) and yards per play (6.78) than they had in any of their last 14 games last week vs. Auburn. Tackling mobile quarterback Robby Ashford was a challenge, and that challenge will be tested again as Daniels is one of the nation's most effective running quarterbacks.

Defenses have done a good job of taking away phases of LSU's game this fall. Tennessee held the Tigers to 55 rushing yards and Auburn held LSU to 85 passing yards. If Ole Miss can handcuff LSU's offense into being one-dimensional, the Rebels' attacking defense should be able to get LSU into third-and-longs. But if LSU plays well-rounded football like it did against Florida, Ole Miss is going to have to rediscover its early season edge to keep the Tigers out of the end zone.

Score prediction

Ole Miss 31, LSU 30: This one is that close. The LSU offense proves it's really on the upswing and Daniels makes some big plays, but Ole Miss' rushing attack proves to be a little too much as the Rebels outlast the Tigers and secure their first impressive road win of the season.

Contact Nick Suss at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on Twitter @nicksuss.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Ole Miss football vs. LSU: Our scouting report, final score prediction