By Jay Berry
In a playoff elimination game, LSU lost at home Saturday night to Alabama, 42-13.
Coming off a 38-23 loss to Texas A&M, Brian Kelly was again 6-2 after eight games. In Kelly’s first two seasons at LSU, he started 6-2 and finished 9-3. Kelly and staff had two weeks to prepare, and they couldn’t stop anything, and nothing they tried worked.
Coming into the game, they were one of the worst teams against the run, especially with QB-designed runs. Against Alabama, they gave up 311 rushing yards.
They gave up 242 to A&M, including QB Marcel Reed, who ran for 6.9 yards per carry and three touchdowns. Against South Carolina, they gave up 243 on the ground. Gamecocks QB LaNorris Sellers rushed for two touchdowns and 88 yards on ten carries.
Jalen Milroe had 185 yards on 12 carries and four touchdowns. He averaged 15.4 yards per rush.
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The Tide were also successful on 3rd downs, going 10-for-13. They had struggled on 3rd downs all season, especially on 3rd and 7 or longer, where only Kent State ranked worse before Saturday night.
After the game, Kelly talked about the elephant in the room.
“If you’re watching the game, you’re like, ‘What did these guys do for two weeks?'” “We have a scheme to stop the quarterback. We did not get it done. I take responsibility for it.”
The Tigers had three red zone turnovers in the game, but their defensive problems have been there all season, and it was the same on Saturday night.
The Crimson Tide slowed down the LSU pass rush by dominating the run game. Something the home team had no answer for.
“We’re disappointed, (because) when you put on a jersey for LSU, there’s a standard of football that those three letters on your jersey (represent),” Kelly said. “We didn’t live up to that.”
Brian Kelly accepted the position for the big stage and big paycheck, but as he put it in his post-game comments, this time the dam broke.
“You’re living on borrowed time when you keep putting yourself in these tough positions,” Kelly said. “Tonight, the dam broke.”
Kelly’s 2025 recruiting class is considered to be top five, but he will need to add key transfer players if he wants to avoid another 9-3 season. The Tigers have three games left, two at home and one on the road. Next week, they’re in Florida, then home against Vanderbilt, and they finish against Oklahoma.
