What could’ve been a memorable night at Death Valley turned into a nightmare. It was a Halloween night in Baton Rouge, weeks after the actual holiday. LSU fell catastrophically to their foe, Alabama and have seen their playoffs chances evaporate into thin air. After the game, head coach Brian Kelly made blunt admissions on his team’s performance against Jalen Milroe and the Crimson Tide.
Tensions were sky-high when the Tide and Tigers took to the field in Louisiana. An elimination game ensued: the winner would keep their hopes alive, while the loser would wave their College Football Playoff chances goodbye. It was expected to be a nail-biter, but it quickly turned into a blowout—almost too easy for Alabama.
Alabama star Jalen Milroe stole the spotlight and was unstoppable for LSU’s defense. The last time Milroe and Kelly’s defense met, the QB rushed for 155 yards and 4 touchdowns. It was paramount for the Tigers to come up with answers for the mobile QB. They didn’t. Milroe had an even better game than last season’s. In Alabama’s 42-13 victory, he rushed for 185 yards and four TDs.
After the game, coach Brian Kelly couldn’t hide his disappointment and made a harsh admission on Louisiana State’s outing.
“I will begin by saying what we thought would be an exciting evening turned out to be a disappointing evening,” Kelly stated, postgame. “I’m disappointed that we didn’t live up to the standards of LSU football. That affects us more than the damn playoff. It wasn’t for a lack effort. It wasn’t for a lack of want to.“
Kelly and LSU had no answers for Milroe
A couple weeks ago, Kelly confessed his defense’s struggles against the QB scrambles. Those difficulties came to full light against the best rushing QB in the NCAA. Milroe toyed around with LSU and put on a record-breaking night in Baton Rouge. Following the loss, Kelly stated his regret with the gameplan and its execution.
“Look, if you are watching the game, you’re like, what did these guy do for two weeks? We have a scheme to stop the quarterback. We did not get that done. So, I take responsibility for it. We own it together and we have got to get it fixed, certainly, because it has been a couple of weeks now, you know, in two games.“