LSU’s playoff picture took a serious hit Saturday night in Lexington, but the Tigers are still breathing.
The No. 10 Tigers fell 35-34 in overtime to unranked Kentucky, a loss that dropped LSU to 0-2 on the road in the SEC this season and put even more pressure on a schedule that still has plenty of landmines ahead. It was the kind of game that can tilt a season fast: LSU had chances to escape, Kentucky kept hanging around, and then the Wildcats found another way to win in overtime for the second straight week.
That doesn’t automatically knock LSU out of the College Football Playoff race. Two losses are not a death sentence, and the Tigers still have quality wins over Clemson and Texas A&M, with their other defeat coming on the road against then-No.
8 Ole Miss. The loss to Kentucky stings because the Wildcats entered the game unranked, but the committee will still see a respectable SEC team.
Kentucky is now 5-1, with a road win over Texas A&M, a win over South Carolina and a 45-17 loss to ranked Alabama, a game the Wildcats led at halftime.
Still, the margin for error is gone. LSU cannot afford another loss if it wants to stay in the playoff conversation.
Saturday’s finish had all the drama you’d expect from an overtime SEC fight. Kentucky led 21-17 at the half, but LSU pushed ahead 27-24 on a 41-yard touchdown pass from Sam Leavitt to Roman Mothershed with 9:42 remaining. Kentucky had two chances to tie it with field goals, but Adam Zougai missed from 42 and 26 yards.
The Wildcats weren’t done. Their defense forced an LSU punt with 1:37 left, and Kentucky drove into range for a 33-yard field goal that Zougai converted to force overtime.
LSU got the ball first in OT and scored right away, with Leavitt punching in a 15-yard touchdown run.
Sam Leavitt runs it in to give LSU the LEAD in OT pic.twitter.com/8w7yEJhjWs
- wok (@wokdior) October 11, 2026
Kentucky answered on its next possession, helped by a 22-yard pass from Kenny Minchey on 3rd-and-8. After CJ Baxter’s rushing touchdown, first-year Kentucky coach Will Stein made the same aggressive choice he made last week against South Carolina: he went for two and the win.
The decision turned into the defining moment of the night. Stein initially sent Willie Rodriguez in to take a direct snap, then called timeout.
It looked like Kentucky might have gotten away with a false start, and although officials threw a flag, they granted the timeout before the penalty was enforced. LSU coach Lane Kiffin was furious.
The moment that has all LSU fans going further through IT right now.
The false start on Kentucky NOT called.
Man, oh man!
- The Whole Delivery (@TWDTV1) October 11, 2026
After the timeout, Stein switched back to Minchey, who kept it himself and scored the two-point conversion to end it.
KENTUCKY UPSETS #10 LSU pic.twitter.com/6zoN5EeDAF
- College Football Report (@CFBReport) October 11, 2026
The loss leaves LSU staring at a brutal closing stretch. The Tigers host No.
17 Mississippi State on Oct. 17, visit Auburn on Oct. 24, then hit a November gauntlet that includes home games against No. 6 Alabama and No.
1 Texas before road trips to No. 15 Tennessee and Arkansas.
Kiffin arrived at LSU last December on a seven-year, $91 million contract, and he is making $13 million in 2026, which On3Sports says makes him the third-highest paid coach in the country. LSU brought him in to get the program into the playoff quickly, and after this loss, that goal already looks shaky in early October.
For Stein, it was another bold call that paid off. Kentucky’s latest win adds to a stretch that now has the Wildcats making college football history as the first team to win consecutive games by one point in overtime.
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LSU Fans Know This Kentucky Series Has Never Felt Normal
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More recently, the game has kept finding ways to look strange, including LSUs dramatic finish in 2002 and Kentuckys latest victory over the Tigers in 2021, a 42-21 result in Lexington. For LSU fans, the memory bank on this series is full of odd turns and uncomfortable surprises, which is part of why Kentucky week has never quite felt normal. [Read more 🡒]