Acrobatic catches get a lot of buzz, but acrobatic interceptions deserve their due as well. LSU Tigers’ junior cornerback Kevin Toliver II made one of the best you’ll see against the Ole Miss Rebels Saturday night, going up against Rebels’ freshman receiver D.K. Metcalf, ripping the ball out of his hands and somehow getting a foot down in bounds to record the pick:
This is a pretty big swing, as it almost ended as a huge play for Ole Miss. Metcalf had a step on Toliver and quarterback Shea Patterson hit him perfectly, and he even appeared to make the catch. But Toliver then went up and just wrested the ball away from him, and managed to get a foot down to complete the interception. Here’s a replay of the pick:
That’s a great move by Toliver, and a good example of why it’s worth not giving up on a play. It was also part of an overall disastrous day for the Rebels, which ended in a 40-24 loss. Before that play, ESPN showed a graphic indicating that star LSU RB Derrius Guice had exactly as many offensive yards (284) as the whole Ole Miss offense, and that about sums things up. Patterson was regularly harassed all night and finished with just 10 completions on 23 attempts for 116 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions. But this interception wasn’t particularly his fault, and was only partly Metcalf’s. (And in Metcalf’s defense, he made one of the best catches of the year himself last week against Vanderbilt.) It was mostly just an incredible play by Toliver.
[Kevin McGuire on Clippit]
