The LSU Tigers are set to take on Missouri in a battle of SEC Tiger teams. But the Bayou Bengals might be a little short-handed when they take the field on Saturday. According to LSU head coach Brian Kelly on Thursday, he has three players currently listed as doubtful for the game: Chris Hilton, Omar Speights, and Aaron Anderson.

Earlier in the week, on Monday, Kelly listed all three individuals on the injury report following LSU’s upset loss at the hands of Ole Miss. Initially, the Tigers’ headman had Hilton, Speights, and Anderson listed as questionable with lower body injuries. Wide receivers Kyren Lacey and Javen Nicholas were also on the original report with lower body injuries but listed as probable. 

Unfortunately, it appears as if the week of preparation did not go according to plan for Hilton, Speights, and Anderson, as it looks like all three players are likely to miss LSU’s huge Saturday matchup against an undefeated Missouri squad. 

Kelly says LSU is going to have to go through the growing pains on defense

In his first season as the head coach at LSU, Brian Kelly won the SEC West and a 10-4 record. That led to high expectations for 2023 that LSU hasn’t quite lived up to nearing the middle of the season, seemingly due to the Tigers’ defense.

Still, Kelly believes that the currently struggling defense was a huge part of LSU’s success in 2022.

“If you look at the games we won last year,” Brian Kelly said. “Start with Auburn, we won the Auburn game and the way we played defensively, taking the football away. If you look at the Arkansas game last year and the kind of defensive performances. Clearly, defense won games for us.”

Brian Kelly explained that last year’s teams had several veteran players, which this year’s doesn’t. Now, the defense is going through growing pains.

“We had a lot of veteran players. You’re talking about Joe Foucha, Greg Brooks. We lost Mekhi Garner, Jarrick Bernard-Converse. That’s a veteran group in the back end of the defense that made a lot of plays for us. So, look, we know where we’re at,” Kelly said.

“We’re playing a combination of 15 freshmen and transfers, and they’re young and inexperienced and they’ve got to grow and there’s gonna be some growing pains. I said that at the start of the season when you take that many guys, there’s a red flag. We’re gonna have to go through these growing pains, but we’re gonna keep fighting and we’re gonna keep teaching, we’re gonna keep coaching.”