Vanderbilt took down the mighty LSU, 31-24, in their Week 8 clash at FirstBank Stadium. A lot of people were surprised when the Commodores were favored to win ahead of the game, but Clark Lea’s team proved all the doubters wrong. Once again. For Brian Kelly, though, that 4-0 start to the season and early momentum raised expectations? All gone. The Tigers are 5-2, and the 2025 season seems to be a repeat of what happened last year. Naturally, the fans have had enough.

When Kelly was hired by the program, everyone hoped they’d see a return to the 2019 heights when LSU won the national championship. So far, the Tigers under Kelly haven’t even tasted the playoffs. Forget winning it. Of course, they make the bowl game every season, but that’s not the standard at a program used to winning and competing for natties.

The first loss to Ole Miss would have been forgotten had Kelly not fallen to Vanderbilt. With two conference losses and a 1-2 SEC record, it doesn’t look like we are going to see them making it to the playoffs this year, either. They also have Alabama and Texas A&M left on their schedule.

LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier broke down in tears on the sidelines after the loss, and calls for Brian Kelly’s resignation mounted. Even after finishing 19-of-28 for 225 yards and two touchdowns, Nussmeier couldn’t get his team to victory. The offense looked good at times, but old woes repeated when they shouldn’t have. In the fourth quarter, the Tigers could manage one field goal. That’s all. “We weren’t on the same page at different times. It got us beat,” Nussmeier said about their offense after the game. Since the bye week, LSU’s red zone has been a nightmare, averaging only 2.67 points per trip inside the 20-yard line.

Even when the defense managed to get the Vanderbilt offense off the field, LSU’s O-line failed to protect Nussmeier, forcing 2nd-and-long on a crucial 4th quarter drive. The QB1 even converted a third and long on the same drive, but it was called back due to a holding penalty on the offense. That wasn’t just the story of the 4th quarter. It has been the story of the whole season. The offense has been carried by the other side of the ball, but Diego Pavia made sure that doesn’t happen.

Tiger Nation is furious with Brian Kelly

“What happens when BK is your head coach?” LSU fans didn’t take well to the loss against Vanderbilt. Frankly, why should they? It’s a movie they have seen far too often under Kelly. It also doesn’t help the head coach when your QB1 is emotional on the sidelines.

One fan wrote, “Bro talked about coming back for a natty 😂😂😂😂.” Garrett Nussmeier could have gone to the pros this year, but instead, he chose to return to LSU to realize his dream. The dream? Do what Joe Burrow did for the program in 2019. However, the fans didn’t put everything on their QB. Their main frustration was with the coaching staff. One LSU fan said, “I would cry too if Brian Kelly’s incompetent coaching just ended my college career at my dream school.”

With offensive struggles and inconsistent playcalling, every game has been a struggle for LUS. Even with Nussmeier connecting well with Trey’Dez Green and Caden Durham in the game, LSU was unable to convert huge plays into game-winning drives due to penalties.

This was one of Nussmeier’s finest games of the season. Still, LSU struggled to overcome the consistent underlying issues that have haunted Kelly’s four-year tenure, including failure to get defensive stops, missed tackles, and a failure to convert under pressure. Tiger Nation is now left wondering if this is the year that the Brian Kelly experiment finally crashes or if the Tigers will pull through and somehow put themselves in a better position.