LSU, Brian Kelly must find answers after mind-bending loss
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — From 6 p.m. CT last Saturday to 6 p.m. CT this Saturday, the outlook for LSU went from…
If they beat Alabama, the Tigers probably will make the College Football Playoff and probably will play in the SEC Championship.
To…
How many empty seats at Tiger Stadium will watch a potentially soul-crushing loss to Vanderbilt?
Even in a sport beloved for its massive emotional swings, this has to be some kind of record.
LSU ran 92 plays to Florida’s 43 Saturday … and lost.
LSU possessed the ball for 41 minutes, 43 seconds … and lost.
LSU converted 13 third downs and two fourth downs … and lost.
“You can’t just continue to move the ball up and down the field and not convert it to points,” LSU coach Brian Kelly said after Saturday’s 27-16 loss to the Gators. “They don’t give you a pat on the back because you had the ball longer.”
The LSU fanbase doesn’t give pats on the back for winning division titles or coaching Heisman Trophy winners either. Kelly has done both in two-plus seasons in Baton Rouge. But his three predecessors won national titles, and that’s the only job requirement for Kelly in Baton Rouge. His year three team already will end up with the worst record of the trio he has coached in Baton Rouge.
The trajectory keeps pushing down. Since leading Texas A&M 17-7 in the third quarter of an eventual 38-23 loss on Oct. 26, LSU has been outscored 100-35. Saturday, the outscoring was done by a Florida team that couldn’t even attack the LSU defense’s greatest weakness. The Gators didn’t use any designed quarterback runs because quarterback D.J. Lagway was playing with an injured hamstring. “He was on one leg out there,” LSU linebacker Whit Weeks conceded.
It didn’t stop Lagway from dodging LSU rushers just enough to uncork a few daggers. Meanwhile, LSU’s defense chose exactly the wrong time to get confused. After the Tigers kicked a field goal to cut Florida’s lead to 20-16 with 5:18 remaining, LSU needed one stop to get the ball back to attempt a game-winning drive.
This is what happened…
This is Weeks’ assessment of Jadan Baugh’s 55-yard touchdown run. “Miscommunication,” Weeks said. “Half of us thought we were running one play. Half of us thought we were running a different play.”
Weeks did not blame the coaches in the way that Kelly has blamed the players in past weeks (though not on Saturday). “We were in spots to make plays, and we didn’t make them. Poor execution on our part. Coaches put us in a good spot to be successful. It’s on the players. It’s nothing on coach Baker on coach Kelly. None of them. It’s all on us.”
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That’s a noble acceptance of blame. It’s also not entirely true. Kelly admitted as much after the loss. He said he’s getting more involved on both sides of the ball.
Defensive coordinator Blake Baker probably needn’t worry about Kelly looking too much over his shoulder. First, Kelly’s background is on offense. Second, Kelly wiped out his entire defensive staff last year after the Tigers wasted Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels and two first-round receivers by having one of the worst defenses in school history. Baker needs better raw material to work with, which is every coach’s responsibility in part, but the ultimate responsibility lies with Kelly.
Offensive coordinator Joe Sloan probably needs to watch his back. LSU already has reached the point where a sacrifice will be demanded, but one or two more losses might seal the deal. Kelly isn’t going anywhere because firing him would cost about $60 million. The promise of top class of 2025 quarterback recruit Bryce Underwood is buoying Kelly and Sloan. Underwood, from Belleville, Mich., posted to his Instagram account this week that he intends to rebuff Michigan’s attempts to flip him.
But Underwood won’t arrive until January. This team still has two regular-season games left to play. Vanderbilt and Oklahoma both need the wins as much as LSU does. So what will Kelly do to rally his team? He spoke after the Alabama loss of reminding players of the reasons why they need to keep showing up. Now the Tigers have even less external incentive.
So Kelly said he’ll look for the players willing to keep fighting, and they’ll be the ones who see the field against the Commodores and Sooners. “If you’re not a thumb pointer, if you’re not somebody saying I’m going to work and continue to work and be better, then we don’t have a place for you in the last couple of weeks,” Kelly said. “If you want to fight and you want to keep working to get better, then we’re going to be alongside of you.”