LSU’s 35-34 overtime loss to Kentucky on Saturday night left the Tigers staring at a season that suddenly feels a lot more fragile.
Kentucky made the decisive choice in overtime, going for two, and quarterback Kenneth Minchey got into the end zone to end it. With that, LSU dropped its second game of the year and walked away with a fresh set of problems that are hard to ignore.
The biggest one: the College Football Playoff path is still technically open, but barely. Two losses before the end of October have put LSU in a brutal position, and the Tigers likely need to run the table from here to have any real shot.
That’s a steep ask when the schedule still includes No. 16 Mississippi State, No.
6 Alabama, No. 7 Texas, and No.
14 Tennessee. At this point, the road to a CFP berth looks highly unlikely.
The ranking picture isn’t much prettier. LSU took the largest tumble in the AP Poll, falling from No. 10 to No.
- The Tigers do have a ranked win over Texas A&M, but that resume piece looks weaker now that the Aggies have slid this season.
Beyond that, LSU’s wins haven’t exactly aged well. The teams the Tigers have beaten are a combined 11-11, and while LSU can’t control the schedule, it also hasn’t delivered the kind of signature victory that changes the way people view a team.
There’s also the quarterback issue, and it keeps surfacing at the worst possible times. Sam Leavitt has shown resilience and flashes of elite play, but the turnovers are becoming a major liability.
In the third quarter, Leavitt tried to force a throw over Eugene Wilson’s head and instead put it right in Ty Bryant’s hands for his FBS-leading eighth interception. Then, with a chance to extend the lead in the fourth quarter, he was sacked and coughed up the ball.
Leavitt’s dual-threat ability gives LSU a high ceiling, but the floor is showing too often. The Tigers should not make a quarterback change, but that doesn’t erase the growing concern that they may not reach their goals with Leavitt under center.
And then there are the injuries, which only make the whole thing harder to trust. LSU has been hit hard with losses to key contributors Trey'Dez Green, Whit Weeks, and Dashawn Spears, and the depth doesn’t look good enough to absorb that kind of damage.
The schedule doesn’t offer much relief, either. LSU still has three road games left, and two home dates against Texas and Alabama. With all of that stacked together, it’s fair to wonder whether the Tigers can do much more than get to six wins.
In Other News...
Kentuckys LSU Celebration Just Came With A Brutal Price
Kentuckys overtime win over LSU ended with a dramatic two-point conversion and an even bigger scene afterward, as thousands of Wildcats students rushed the field to celebrate the 35-34 victory. For LSU, it was the kind of painful road loss that already stings on its own, but the aftermath added another layer of frustration to a game that slipped away in the final moments.
The SEC moved quickly to address the field storming, citing the conferences policy against spectator access to competition areas before, during and after contests for safety reasons. Kentucky was fined $500,000, and the leagues updated penalty structure means LSU will be the beneficiary of the payment, turning a memorable finish in Lexington into a costly one for the home side. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Is Benefiting From Kentucky's Costly Postgame Mistake
LSUs narrow overtime loss at Kentucky came with an unexpected silver lining a day later, when the Southeastern Conference confirmed the Wildcats will owe the Tigers a $500,000 fine after fans stormed the field following the win. The payment stems from a new 2025 SEC rule tied to violations of the access to competition area policy, and it is one that puts real money back in the hands of the opposing team in conference games.
For LSU, the result on the field still stings after Kentucky escaped with a 35-34 victory, but the postgame fallout has now added another layer to the story. The SECs ruling makes clear that the celebration came at a cost, and the Tigers are the beneficiary of a rule designed to punish field-storming incidents more directly than before. [Read more 🡒]
Lane Kiffin's Rare Late Decision Still Haunts LSU's Kentucky Loss
Lane Kiffins decision to punt on a critical fourth-and-1 late against Kentucky stood out immediately because it ran against the reputation he has built for aggressive, high-wire coaching. LSU was up 27-24 with less than two minutes left and Kentucky had no timeouts, a situation that usually invites a team to put the game in its own hands rather than hand the ball back.
Instead, the punt opened the door for Kentucky to mount the kind of closing sequence LSU wanted to avoid. The Wildcats forced the game to overtime with a field goal, then finished it by going for two and sealing the win, leaving LSU to replay a rare late-game choice that will linger because of how the final minutes unfolded. [Read more 🡒]