- Brian Kelly asked the question we all had on our brains: What, exactly, did LSU do to prepare for Alabama, and why didn’t it work?
- Until LSU elevates its personnel, expect Tigers to fall short of greatness.
- LSU didn’t have the horses to run with Alabama. That’s why the Tide are in position for CFP bid, and LSU isn’t.
BATON ROUGE, La. – Brian Kelly asked the question we all had on our brains.
The way the No. 13 Tigers played Saturday in a 42-13 tail-kicking by No. 11 Alabamayou might’ve thought LSU learned of its opponent 90 seconds before kickoff.
In fact, LSU had two weeks to prepare for Alabama.
Could’ve fooled me.
“If you’re watching the game, you’re like, ‘What did these guys do for two weeks?’” Kelly said after a loss that kneecapped LSU’s playoff chances.
“We have a scheme to stop the quarterback. We did not get it done. I take responsibility for it.”
Alabama’s star quarterback Jalen Milroe galloped through LSU’s defense.
He completed his first seven passes. He repeatedly sprinted into the end zone with comfort in the knowledge that the Tigers had nobody who would lay a hand on him.
Milroe picked the Tigers clean and left them for bones, and it’s the same sad story for LSU’s defense, a yearslong wart.
“He’s got a superpower when it comes to running the football,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said of his quarterback.
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Pair that superpower with an LSU defense that’s super pitiful at stopping running quarterbacks, and you get a blowout like this one.
How to improve LSU football defense? Start with personnel
Kelly fired his defensive coordinator after last season, when LSU fielded the SEC’s worst defense this side of Vanderbilt.
In marched Blake Baker to run the defense, a hire that generated fanfare. Baker previously galvanized Missouri’s defense.
And yet, this loss presented as a near repeat of Alabama’s romp over LSU last seasonwhen the Crimson Tide also scored 42 points, and Milroe ran wild through the night.
I doubt Baker overdosed on stupid pills in the offseason, so, what gives?
Simply, LSU’s defense doesn’t have enough good personnel. LSU (6-3) lacks the horses to run with Alabama (7-2).
Remember the physical freaks from the Nick Saban and Les Miles eras of LSU football? This defense doesn’t possess many guys like that.
Which begs the question: Why not? And, can Kelly populate his roster with the necessary opponent-wreckers before next season?
As Kelly assembles a 2025 recruiting class that ranks No. 4 nationally, he’d also do well to shop for a few proven veteran defenders in the winter transfer sweepstakes. I’m not talking about warm bodies to round out the roster. LSU needs a few A-listers to spearhead a defensive rebirth.
LSU’s flop on offense Saturday can be explained by three turnovers and red-zone woes, but the defensive woes go deeper.
LSU’s deficiencies remind me of where Ole Miss stood last year.
Georgia exposed the Rebels’ personnel last November in a rout of Ole Miss, after which Lane Kiffin took stock of the program’s weaknessesbaited the hook, and fished in the transfer portal for solutions.
Backed by Ole Miss’ well-heeled NIL collective, Kiffin identified and secured an army of quality transfers to transform an Ole Miss defense that limited Georgia to 10 points in a victory Saturday.
Kelly shows no appetite to challenge for Kiffin’s “Portal King” credentials, but he needs to acquire a few fellas with miles on the tires who know how to battle in the SEC.
How Alabama neutralized the one thing LSU defense does well
This defense does one thing well, and one thing only: It rushes the quarterback.
Alabama neutralized LSU’s pass rush with a run-oriented attack, keeping the ball on the ground more than 70% of the time.
Alabama knew better than to station Milroe in the pocket for long-developing pass plays. Texas A&M reminded us two weeks ago that LSU can’t tackle mobile quarterbacks in the open field. Turns out, LSU didn’t fix the problem.
When Milroe did require his arm, he made smart, efficient decisions, uncorked the ball quickly, and persistently found open targets, often over the middle of the field within the soft belly of LSU’s defense.
He became a third-down magician. LSU moved the chains 10 times on 13 third-down tries.
Add in LSU’s turnovers and a few untimely Tigers penalties, and a blowout is born.
LSU isn’t as bad as it looked – it beat playoff-contending Ole Miss in this very building less than a month ago – but the defensive deficiencies persist as a bugaboo that holds back LSU from the playoff.
“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.”
Although I can appreciate the sentiment of Kelly’s comment, LSU also lacks the roster required to consistently live up to that standard.
DBU gradually morphed into DB-P.U.
No linebacker puts fear in any opponent.
Not enough disruptors reside in LSU’s defensive front.
It falls squarely on Kelly and his staff to elevate the two-deep before a pivotal Year 4 for Kelly’s tenure.
Because, if LSU doesn’t make the necessary personnel improvements, we’ll ask this same question next year: What, exactly, did you spend your time doing?
(This story was updated to change a video.)
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer. Subscribe to read all of his columns.
