It was a game in which LSU could not afford to lose. The loss to Ole Miss meant that the Tigers would need to play clean football until November, considering the tough stretch that the second to last month of the season presents. It meant that they’d have to take care of business against pesky teams that they would be overwhelming favorites against, like Kentucky, Mississippi St, and Auburn.
Well, that got off to a bad start. For much of Saturday night’s game, Lane Kiffin’s team looked like they were
more talented and would eventually create separation, but they kept giving Kentucky chance after chance by making mistake after mistake. Before you knew it, the Wildcats were sending the game in to overtime and that’s the last place you want to be on the road in the SEC.
Credit Will Stein and his team, because they took advantage of most of what LSU gave them and turned it in to another upset in the SEC.
There was plenty of blame to go around, but there were a few things that stuck out more than most. As always, there were a few performers that did everything they could to try to help the Tigers win, but in the end, they were unable to escape Lexington unscathed.
Tigers
Jackson Harris
Two weeks after his breakout performance against Texas A&M, Harris found a new way to make an impact. Not only did the big receiver make a phenomenal catch in the end zone while being drilled by a Kentucky defender, he threw a touchdown. It wasn’t a short throw, either. He took an end-around and hit Roman Mothershed in stride for a 41 yard score that seemed like it may have been the big play to kick start a Tiger win.
It may not have, but regardless, it was one of the most impressive plays that we are likely to see this year.
Dilin Jones
While Jones didn’t have his typical huge night on the ground, he found a way to make an impact as a pass-catcher. That wasn’t an area of his game that we had seen him utilize a ton this season as a Tiger.
He finished with 7 catches for 84 yards and 5 of those catches resulted in a 1st down. He became a chain mover for LSU, but in a different way. His 16 carries for 56 yards was underwhelming for his standard, but it still wasn’t as bad as it felt at times.
If Jones can continue to deliver when Sam Leavitt throws him the ball on a dump down, he’ll become a much safety valve for when the Tiger signal-caller starts to feel pressured.
TJ Dottery
While the defense had a fairly rough night compared to what we’ve come to expect from a Blake Baker unit, Dottery was all over the place. This was the first SEC game without Whit Weeks, so it was going to be an uphill battle for the defense to adjust to the loss of their senior leader in a big game. Dottery picked up a the slack and finished with 12 tackles, by far the team lead. He also led the team with his Pro Football Focus tackling grade of 84.1.
Cubs
Sam Leavitt
This one is tough, because aside from two plays, Leavitt was pretty dang good. Those two plays can’t happen, though. His interception was just bad throw in which he sailed Eugene Wilson III. That happens. The fumble at the end of the game, though, was inexcusable. LSU had the lead with under 5 minutes to go and was just looking to run some clock. The decision to throw the ball on 2nd and 6 was an interesting one, but once Leavitt realized that the play was blown up, he has to have the wherewithal to protect the football and not make a bad situation worse.
Thankfully, Kentucky did not score off of either turnover, but that won’t always be the case. He absolutely has to clean up the turnovers or it will truly cost the Tigers in a big moment.
Outside of that, his 275 passing yards and 2 touchdowns on 74% completions was really good, especially combined with his 39 yards rushing and additional rushing touchdown. He looked comfortable moving around on his previously injured hamstring that he sustained two weeks ago against Texas A&M.
Offensive guards
It was another rough night for the guards on the offensive line. William Satterwhite II continues to start for Bo Borderlon after replacing him following the Ole Miss game. He’s considered superior in pass blocking, but struggled with a PFF grade of 55.6.
Aliou Bah, who was considered one of the surest bets to succeed with the Tigers since he transferred from Maryland and took over as a starter back in spring practice, continues to have moments of struggle. His overall grade of 51.7 was #18 of 20 graded offensive players. His pass blocking is excellent at 76.0, but his run blocking grade of 49.7 is rough.
The run bocking, in general, deserves plenty of criticism. The signs were there week 1, when Dilin Jones gained over 80% of his 113 rushing yards after contact. LSU has struggled to get much consistency on the ground, which led to the questionable decision to punt on 4th and 1 instead of trusting the offense to close out the game.
Lane Kiffin/Blake Baker
This series is typically reserved for players, but some coaching decisions deserve a mention for Saturday’s loss. As I just mentioned, the decision to punt on 4th and 1 with under 2 minutes to play is still baffling considering who Lane Kiffin is. He has built his career on being bold and unafraid to be aggressive. On the 4th and 1 pass play that resulted in a long touchdown to Jackson Harris against Texas A&M, he even mentioned after the game that he considered punting the ball to trust the defense, but remembered who he was and why he was brought to LSU.
Well, that same thought process did not cross his mind on Saturday and he chose against trusting his team to pick up just 1 yard. Kentucky was out of timeouts, so 1 yard would have ended the game.
What made the decision even more confusing was the strategy of Blake Baker on the ensuing defensive drive with the game on the line. Instead of staying with their aggressive nature, they went with a prevent defense, essentially conceding the game-tying field goal. Kenny Minchey marched the Wildcats right down the field, so fast that they had a decent chance at winning the game in regulation, but kicked the field goal for overtime.
The rest is history and the loss felt extra frustrating, because they lost the game going away from their identity.
