LSU’s College Football Playoff hopes just evaporated. A gut-wrenching 22-21 collapse against Texas, where running back Raleek Brown walked in for an easy touchdown after Davohn Keys reacted late, has left the Tigers sitting at a disappointing 6-4 with zero wins over any ranked opponent.
The Wild Ride Hits a Wall
Lane Kiffin swaggered into Baton Rouge promising an immediate championship vision, not some long-term rebuild. He was a headline machine from day one, trolling, doing hot yoga in rival SEC towns, and even wagging his finger at the league over player eligibility. He came in hot, even confidently asking in a Week 1 halftime interview, “Imagine if we had pro players,” after a blowout win over Clemson. That kind of talk, backed by a roster costing upwards of $40 million and maybe the highest-paid coach in the sport, built sky-high expectations. But since that Week 1 win, LSU has gone just 3-4 against Power Four competition, losing to every single ranked team they’ve played: Ole Miss, Kentucky, Alabama, and now Texas.
Expensive Roster, Undelivered Results
Forget building blocks or debut season excuses. This isn’t a normal coach with a normal roster. Kiffin’s team is among the most expensive in college football, yet they can’t seem to get out of their own way. The Texas loss itself was an 11-point, second-half collapse, sealing their fate. Kiffin, to his credit, owned it, even if his immediate reaction to the game-losing play was an exasperated shoulder shrug and a vague, “(Davohn) has him, so you know… A lot of plays before that.” He knows what’s up, saying, “I get it. Underperformance. It doesn’t matter if the games have been close or if they go down to the last six seconds. I was brought here to win, and we need to win more than that.”
What’s Really Going On?
So, what’s really going on in the Bayou? Kiffin points to a few things. Those last-play busts, like the one against Texas and earlier against Kentucky, definitely cost them. Special teams have been a mess all year, including a missed 38-yard field goal just before halftime against Texas that could’ve made all the difference. Then there’s the “barrage of turnovers” from Leavitt’s frenetic play style. Kiffin even looked to Steve Sarkisian’s Year 6 Texas roster, implying that building that kind of depth takes time, a contrast to his own debut season. “You build things, and they take a little bit of time,” Kiffin stated, but that sure wasn’t the championship message he was selling coming into this season.
With the CFP dream shattered and the record sitting at 6-4, the “championship vision” Kiffin sold for his debut season is now just a distant memory. This team, with its massive investment and only eight returning starters, is underperforming, and the pressure on Kiffin to turn things around for the rest of the season is only going to get crazier.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by CBS Sports.
Leave a Reply