LSU football got absolutely blasted by the Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday night. Tigers fans were so unhappy during the 42-13 defeat, that they threw trash and debris onto the field. The tactics drew the ire of the television broadcast crew, including Kirk Herbstreit.
The LSU football coach Brian Kelly is making no excuses for the loss, calling out his team's toughness. That is understandable, as the loss almost guarantees the Tigers will once again miss the College Football Playoff. Here are some reasons why the LSU Tigers are most to blame for this devastating loss.
LSU allowed more than 300 rushing yards
The Tigers have done a pretty good job this season with their run defense. On the year, LSU has allowed 150 rushing yards a game. While that's not near the top of the SEC, that is not too bad nationally at 74th overall.
LSU football did a terrible job stopping the run against Alabama. The Tigers gave up more than twice their season average, as the Crimson Tide gained 311 yards on the ground. Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe gained 185 yards by himself, and scored a whopping four touchdowns. It's very difficult for a team to win when it allows that kind of a performance.
“We're not reinventing the wheel when it comes to defending the quarterback,” LSU coach Brian Kelly said, per ESPN. “There's only a couple of ways to defend them. We have to be able to get our players — we're not trading any of them. There's no waiver wire. We're not bringing anybody up from the demo squad. We've got to come up with the right answers on what works best for the guys that we have, and it hasn't worked very well these last couple of games.”
That performance leads to the next reason why LSU is to blame for this loss.
LSU football had an extra week to prepare for this contest
The Tigers were coming into this Alabama game from a bye week. That means the LSU football team had an extra week to prepare to play the Crimson Tide at home. It truly makes this loss even more painful to take, considering the squad just looked unprepared against Milroe and Alabama's offense.
LSU coach Brian Kelly understandably understood the fans' frustration as they sat in the stands watching this mess.
“If you're watching the game, you're like, ‘What did these guys do for two weeks?'” Kelly added. “We have a scheme to stop the quarterback. We did not get that done, so I take responsibility for it. But we also have to put our players in the right position too to take advantage of what they're capable of doing. So we own it together, and we've got to get it fixed, because it's been a couple of weeks now.”
There's a final reason why the Tigers are to blame for this bad loss–and it involves an actual tiger.
Was an off the field story too much of a distraction?
LSU made headlines in the last week over its decision to allow a live tiger to enter the stadium during the Alabama game. The bengal tiger named Omar Bradley came in via a cage, and fans cheered. The governor of Louisiana reportedly wanted it to happen, after several years where live tigers weren't seen at Tigers games.
That decision to bring in a live animal let off a firestorm of criticism. An animal rights group blasted the move, and there were protesters outside the stadium before the game. Even head coach Brian Kelly was asked about it, which might have been an issue. Instead of focusing on game preparation, the head coach had to field questions about a live animal at the game.
The bengal tiger may not have made any difference at all in the outcome of the contest, but it certainly brought some negative publicity to the school. Since LSU badly lost this game, one has to wonder if that decision was a mistake. It will be interesting to see how LSU handles this issue in the future.
LSU football will try to get a win on Saturday, when it plays at Florida.
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