Praising a scheme they had been repping all week in practice, the Ole Miss coaching staff credited the university's legal department Tuesday for successfully serving LSU defensive end Princewill Umanmielen with a pre-game civil lawsuit.
The delivery of the court papers, executing a tort claim just days before Saturday's pivotal SEC showdown, was described by Rebels staff as a foundational piece of their offensive gameplan. According to team sources, a university-contracted process server utilized a devastating swim move to bypass an LSU graduate assistant before planting the manila envelope squarely on Umanmielen’s chest, effectively neutralizing the star edge rusher's ability to focus on third-down blitz packages.
You can't just rely on a tight end chip block to contain a guy with his sheer explosiveness. Sometimes you have to force a premier pass rusher into a prolonged discovery phase to keep him out of your backfield.
LSU head coach Brian Kelly expressed frustration during his Tuesday press conference, arguing that deploying civil litigation this close to kickoff violates the spirit of the game. Kelly noted that the Tigers' coaching staff had to burn two hours of valuable film-study time just to review the plaintiffs' listed grievances, calling the injunction a "cheap stunt" that forces his defense to waste practice reps consulting with retained counsel.
Looking ahead to Saturday's kickoff, oddsmakers have adjusted the line to favor the Rebels by 3.5 points, an over/under of 54, and one pending motion to compel.