One of the biggest, most consequential games of the season so far took place in Tuscaloosa on Saturday night — in the wake of a hurricane, no less — but a different game was taking place about six hours north on I-65 that was also rife with national implications.
The Kentucky Wildcats and LSU Tigers played an all-time classic of a college football game this weekend, with Big Blue Nation pulling off a stunner, downing the top-ten Tigers 35-34 in front of a sold-out crowd at Kroger Field.
What this means for the Wildcats and first-year head coach Will Stein can’t be overstated, as the new Kentucky head man now has two top-ten wins in his first six games on the job, and the arrow is pointing straight up in the Bluegrass State as of mid-October.
But on the opposite sideline on Saturday night, LSU head coach Lane Kiffin was left with more questions than answers as the honeymoon phase in Baton Rouge likely came to a screeching halt.
Things aren’t exactly up in smoke for Kiffin in his first year on the Bayou.
The Tigers are 4-2 with wins over Clemson and Texas A&M and are still in the AP top-25 as of this afternoon, falling from 10th to 22nd.
However, this probably isn’t how anyone in purple and gold expected the season to go when they imagined the infinite possibilities back in August.
LSU had one of the most expensive rosters in the country, estimated at around $40 million, as well as a coaching staff many considered to be the best in the country, top to bottom.
The loss to Ole Miss three weeks ago stung, but was not unexpected.
The Rebels were favored and had the benefit of playing at home, and the added context of Kiffin returning to the program, he turned his back on to go coach in The Boot made that a tough one to win.
But losing to a first-time head coach at a program that you have a marked talent and resources advantage over is a tough pill to swallow.
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And to top it all off, the Tigers took a massive L on the recruiting trail on Sunday when their flip target, five-star wide receiver and former Texas commit Easton Royal, opted to head to Gainesville and play for the Gators.
Losing a five-star prospect to an in-conference rival is never fun, but when you consider Royal is from nearby New Orleans and was long thought to be an LSU lean even while committed to the Longhorns, it makes it even harder to accept.
Sure, signing day is still two months away, but that’s a prospect you’d rather hold onto than try to flip in the 11th hour.
Things don’t get any easier for the Bayou Bengals, either.
Their October features a visit from top-20 Mississippi State as well as a trip to Jordan Hare to play Auburn.
Then they play three consecutive top-15 teams in November (Alabama, Texas, and at Tennessee) before a relative break on the road against Arkansas to end the season.
It’s not inconceivable to envision another two losses in that stretch.
If you asked an LSU fan over the summer if 8-4 was an acceptable year one, they would have laughed in your face, and they would have had every right to do so.
Between Kiffin, the coaching staff, and the roster, this is easily a $150 million operation, and 8-4 and a trip to the Duke’s Mayo Bowl isn’t going to cut the mustard.
Kiffin famously pleaded for patience during spring practice, but unfortunately for him, in this day and age of NIL and the transfer portal, patience no longer exists at a tier one program like LSU.
My confidence in Kiffin’s ability to win at LSU has not waned.
First years are rife with trial and error, and not every coach can have a Curt Cignetti-type start to their tenure.
Kiffin and his staff will figure out what works and what doesn’t on this roster, and trim the fat where necessary.
As long as the powers that be continue to fund this thing, LSU and Kiffin will be fine.
But Saturday night’s loss to Kentucky raises those same uncomfortable questions I already discussed.
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Why couldn’t a $40 million roster and one of the hottest coaches in the country beat a lower-tier SEC team.
If Will Stein can do it in year one, why can’t Lane Kiffin?
I’m not here to answer those questions or even argue their validity, but this is what folks in Baton Rouge will no doubt be thinking this week.
I’ve said it before, and I will say it again, the honeymoon in Death Valley is over.
Now we get to find out if Kiffin is really made for this gig.
