Lane Kiffin’s first season at LSU hit a rough patch this weekend. The Tigers lost 35-34 in overtime in Lexington on Saturday night. The result sent them tumbling down the rankings in Sunday’s AP Top 25 poll. LSU dropped 12 spots to No. 22, while Kentucky jumped from unranked to No. 15.
The slide is the biggest of any team in the poll this week. LSU now sits at 4-2 overall and 1-2 in SEC play. The Tigers are now 0-2 on the road under Lane Kiffin. The other road loss was the Week 3 defeat at Ole Miss, where Sam Leavitt threw an interception in the red zone with 59 seconds left in the game.
The ending in Kentucky was painful. Kentucky won it with a two point conversion in overtime. Kiffin stayed calm afterward, saying he wasn’t going to overreact and that the outcome could have flipped on a coin toss and the decision to go for two.
The Pressure Is On
The loss puts a lot of pressure on the rest of the schedule. LSU still has Mississippi State, Alabama and Texas on the home slate, plus road trips to Auburn, Tennessee and Arkansas. With two losses and an 0-2 record in true road games, LSU can’t afford many more mistakes if they want to stay in the College Football Playoff conversation.
What’s Next
First up is a chance to reset at home. LSU hosts Mississippi State next on October 17th. A convincing win in Tiger Stadium would steady things before the road game at Auburn and the bye week that follows.
LSU is still ranked and the season is still in front of them, but the margin for error is basically zero and much thinner than it was a week ago.
— Eric Palmer, TigerSources