LSU fans should feel frustrated per Joel Klatt
As crushing as last season’s loss to Florida State was a season ago, this year’s Top-10 matchup might have been even worse for LSU. After FSU snatched overtime from them on the final untimed down in 2022, 2023’s edition was a beatdown as the No. 8 Seminoles won 45-24, and were up 45-17 before a late touchdown with about a minute to go, over the No. 5 Tigers.
With the final outcome repeating itself, FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt believes the people in Baton Rouge have every reason to find this annoying. While it’s not time to jump ship on LSU yet, he did highlight why the mistakes from this game were as frustrating as they were considering how last year’s game and campaign played out.
“I don’t quite think it’s time to panic for LSU. But, boy, it’s time to be frustrated,” said Klatt on his show this week. “How should LSU feel? Frustrated.”
“They made mistakes on the field last year that can be explained away because you had a new coach and kind of a new team with some transfers in there. It’s like, ‘It’s okay, we played better by the end. We won the SEC (West)’. And there was this sentiment that it was like, ‘Well, that’s going to change’. And, ‘We won’t make those same mistakes early in this season,'” Klatt said. “Guess what? It happened again.”
LSU was all but shut out in the second half after holding a three-point lead at the break. The game as a whole, though, did not go as planned. Both sides of the football faltered for the Tigers during stretches and eventually cost them by the end.
The 21-point margin is not very reflective of LSU’s national standing in Klatt’s eyes. However, there are other red flags that he said that Brian Kelly’s team needs to correct quickly.
“Do I think Florida State is that much better than LSU? Probably not. The score got away from them a little bit,” explained Klatt. “Why? Because they didn’t execute and made massive mistakes, in particular in that first half.”
“They probably could have had a lead by a score or two at times during that game,” Klatt said. “Their quarterback has got to play better. Their execution has got to get better, their special teams has got to get cleaned up. I would be frustrated.”
In the end, Klatt’s real reasoning for irritation is because of how this sets LSU up for the rest of the year. With this loss, his concern is that the Tigers won’t show any progress as a program considering they could repeat last year’s success and still come short of the College Football Playoff because of a loss in their opener.
“Why would I be frustrated? Because this is still a team that’s going to compete in the SEC,” said Klatt.
“What I wouldn’t want, if I was a Tiger fan, is to have the same type of year that we had a year ago. Win a special game against Alabama on the road in Tuscaloosa, get to the SEC Championship, and not really be in the playoff picture,” Klatt said. “Why? Because of some silly game at the beginning of the year where we didn’t play our best.”