With LSU’s path sitting right in front of it, Saturday turned into a gut punch. The College Football Playoff Committee had just dropped Alabama to No. 5, which should have been a gift for the Tigers: a chance to land a top-5 win and strengthen a resume that looked shiny after blowout victories over Mississippi St and Auburn. Instead, LSU let the moment slip away.
For three quarters, it was a tight, physical fight. Then the game cracked open early in the fourth, and LSU never recovered.
Alabama pulled away for a 31-13 win, moving to 7-2 and extending its hold over the purple and gold. LSU fell to 6-3 and now has another potential five-loss season staring it down with two top-10 matchups still ahead in the next two weeks.
Jackson Harris was the bright spot LSU could count on all afternoon. Since week 4 against Texas A&M, he’s been one of the most dangerous pieces in the passing game, and that didn’t change here.
He caught 11 passes for 166 yards and kept showing up whenever LSU needed a play. His Pro Football Focus grade of 78.7 led the team.
Trey’Dez Green kept grinding, too, and his performance deserves more credit than it might get at first glance. He was knocked out of the Ole Miss game after a nasty hit and missed the following month, then came back two weeks ahead of schedule at Auburn and kept battling against Alabama.
He even showed up on the injury report Friday night, which raised questions about his knee, but the issue was actually a stomach bug he’d been dealing with in the days before the game. He still played and finished with 10 catches for 85 yards.
On defense, DJ Pickett continued the kind of rise that has made him hard to ignore. After an All-Freshman season in the SEC, the sophomore has not only met expectations, he’s pushed past them. His 76.3 PFF grade led LSU’s defense, and he filled up the stat sheet with 3 tackles, a sack, 2 pressures, another QB hit, and no receptions allowed on 2 targets.
The trouble for LSU came up front, where Braelin Moore had a rough afternoon. His overall grade was 52.1, but the pass blocking number was the real problem: 26.5.
He gave up 1 sack, 3 hurries, and 4 total pressures, and Alabama kept creating problems through the middle all game. That constant disruption made life miserable for Sam Leavitt, who was forced into hurried throws and missed open receivers.
The guard play around Moore has been shaky all season, but this one was on him, too.
Jordan Seaton also had a day LSU would like to forget. His 69.2 overall grade looks serviceable, but there were too many moments where Alabama got free rushes off the edge and put Leavitt under immediate pressure.
Seaton’s pass blocking grade somehow landed at 85.7, even though he allowed a sack, a hurry, and 2 total pressures. That sack came on a huge fourth down in LSU territory, leading to a turnover on downs and the blow that pushed the score to 31-13.
LSU needs more from him.
The biggest frustration, though, came from the sideline. Lane Kiffin and Charlie Weis Jr. drew plenty of heat for the way the offense was handled in key moments.
LSU’s second-half opening drive was moving smoothly, with the Tigers stringing together 7-8 yards per play and taking what Alabama gave them. Then came a wide receiver pass on an end-around that nearly turned into a dropped interception.
After that, LSU found itself in 2nd and long and eventually had to settle for a field goal. The decision to abandon what was working made no sense.
Later, with Alabama back in front 17-13, LSU faced a critical 3rd and short. Even though the Tigers had been getting stuffed on run after run up the middle all day, they went back to the same direct snap to Dilin Jones they’ve used 20 times this season and had already used earlier in the game.
Alabama had everyone pinched in, the look was obvious, and the play still got called. It was stuffed, LSU punted, and the Crimson Tide ripped off a huge return before scoring on the very next play to make it 24-13 with under 10 minutes left.
That was the point where the game felt finished.
In the end, the flow of the game never seemed to match what LSU needed most. The decisions, the timing, and the handling of those pressure moments were off, and that starts with Kiffin and Weis.
In Other News...
Kim Mulkey Just Landed Another Frontcourt Talent LSU Fans Will Love
LSUs frontcourt plans for the future got a boost in February when Caroline Bradley, one of the nations top recruits out of Oak Grove, Louisiana, chose the Tigers. The highly regarded prospect is set to make it official during the NCAA early signing period, adding another in-state name to Kim Mulkeys growing pipeline of talent.
Bradleys commitment matters not just because of her ranking, but because of the connection she already has with Mulkey and the fit she appears to offer for LSUs womens basketball program. She is expected to arrive with the chance to make an immediate impact starting next season, giving the Tigers another promising piece to build around up front. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Gets A Whit Weeks Boost As Texas Prep Brings New Concern
LSUs first injury report of the week brought a little relief and a little unease as the Tigers turn their attention to Texas. Linebacker Whit Weeks is listed as questionable after sitting out the previous game with a fractured fibula, giving LSU at least the possibility of getting one of its key defenders back in time for a major matchup.
The report also added fresh concern, with offensive tackle Weston Davis and defensive end Gabriel Reliford showing up among the seven players listed. LSU is already working without Phillip Wright III, Dashawn Spears and Charles Ross II, all of whom are out for the season with leg injuries, so the Tigers are managing both the hope of a boost and the reality of a growing health list as the week unfolds. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Just Became A Flashpoint In The Playoff Expansion Debate
The current College Football Playoff debate has LSU right in the middle of a larger argument about how far the bracket should stretch. Under a hypothetical 24-team field based on the rankings as they stand now, several teams with ordinary records would still be in the mix, which is exactly the kind of scenario fueling skepticism about where expansion stops and overreach begins.
Rich Clark, the CFP executive director, has already acknowledged that fan sentiment was part of the conversation, even as the push to grow the bracket was framed as a way to create a spectacular playoff. For LSU and the rest of the sport, the issue is bigger than one bracket mock-up: it is whether expansion is giving more teams a fair shot or simply turning the postseason into a format that leaves everyone guessing what the point was in the first place. [Read more 🡒]