Paul Finebaum growing 'pretty high' on Brian Kelly, LSU following win over Arkansas

After LSU’s victory over Arkansas over the weekend, Paul Finebaum’s confidence in the Brian Kelly and the Tigers is growing.

On the latest episode of The Matt Barrie Show, Finebaum and his ESPN colleague broke down the week that was in college football during Week 8, including LSU’s 24-point win over the Razorbacks. Evidently, it has Finebaum buying what Kelly’s program is selling at the moment.

“I’m pretty high on them. I deal with Brian Kelly on our show every week, regular guest, which I do right after I talk to you, and he has had to navigate a lot, and I like that about this program,” Finebaum said. “I mean, I’ll state the obvious, but they should have about three losses right now. They dropped the USC game, which they probably should’ve won. They won the South Carolina game, which they probably should’ve lost. I still haven’t figured out how they won the Ole Miss game. The fact that they did, I think they’re getting confident.

“Last night I thought was an incredible trap game. I was with a couple of folks on our show on Saturday that thought Arkansas would win. This stretch here has always been dicey, but I like the momentum. [Garrett] Nussmeier is playing really well. They’ve lost a couple of key players. What’s interesting is when they lost Harold Perkins, the All-American linebacker, a lot of people said, ‘Oh my goodness,’ but in some ways that defense has played freer without him being there.”

Looking ahead to Week 9, LSU is headed to Kyle Field to face Texas A&M this coming Saturday, and the Aggies are in a similar spot as the Tigers, 6-1 after falling in their Week 1 contest. Whoever gets the win between the two teams will be in tremendous shape when it comes to the College Football Playoff, according to Finebaum.

“I still believe Brian Kelly is one of the elite coaches in the country. A lot of people push back on that, it’s fine. I was thinking that Kalen DeBoer was one of the elite coaches in the country three weeks ago. So, these things are cyclical, but I like what I’ve seen there,” Finebaum added. “If LSU does win the game there, they’re within striking distance of the Playoff. Really, the winner of this game is in incredible shape.”

Time will tell if LSU can keep the good times rolling, but they’ve made a believer out of Paul Finebaum over the past two months. The Tigers will look to win their seventh consecutive game on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. against the Aggies.