Paul Finebaum didn’t waste any time piling on Lane Kiffin after LSU’s 31-13 loss to Alabama on Saturday, using his postgame reaction to hammer the same old criticism that has followed Kiffin for years.
Speaking with Matt Barrie on his self-titled show over the weekend, Finebaum said LSU’s defeat in Baton Rouge was “embarrassing” and argued that Kiffin still “hasn’t figured it out” against elite opponents. The Tigers dropped to 6-3 in Kiffin’s first season in Baton Rouge after Alabama pulled away late, and Finebaum said the night in Death Valley left Kiffin looking exposed.
“Yeah, I mean the simple headline is Lane Kiffin got punked,” Finebaum said. “And it wasn’t even close.
I mean, he just looked foolish, and it was two years ago on this weekend when a similar event happened down there. That was really the beginning of the end for Brian Kelly.
He wasn’t around at this point last year for the for the Alabama game in Tuscaloosa … I just don’t think I’ve seen anything quite like that.”
Finebaum kept pressing the point that the old questions about Kiffin are still the right questions.
“And the easy answer is it’s the same old ‘Lane Kiffin can’t beat Alabama, can’t win big games,’” he continued. “What’s so remarkable is that every one of us bought into Kiffin beating Clemson, Kiffin beating Mississippi State, Auburn, all bad teams. OK, against the good teams that hasn’t happened, and I just kept wanting to believe that he had figured it out, but he hasn’t.”
He also pointed to the fact that Ole Miss took a similar loss the same day, saying that was the only thing that softened the blow for Kiffin.
“The only good thing that happened to Lane Kiffin yesterday was that Ole Miss lost by a pretty similar amount to an even a slightly better team, at least for the moment, than Alabama,” Finebaum added. “I have said to you and others that I thought Kiffin would get it turned around at some point and win a national championship. But you have to wonder if Lane Kiffin isn’t just all sizzle and no substance.”
Finebaum wasn’t done there, either, saying he saw little to admire in the way LSU handled the game.
“I mean, I didn’t see anything last night that impressed me. They had so many opportunities, and when it came down to a call from the sidelines, Kiffin whiffed … That’s that’s what we get from Lane Kiffin in these situations … What’s so great about him, Matt?”
Kiffin’s move from Oxford, MS to Baton Rouge was supposed to be the next big step, but the results so far haven’t matched the hype. LSU still has No.
7 Texas and No. 13 Tennessee left before finishing the regular season against three-win Arkansas.
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