Breiden Fehoko knows what LSU looks like when everything comes together. He was in Baton Rouge for the 2019 national championship season, when Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Justin Jefferson helped turn the Tigers into one of the best teams college football has seen.
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He also knows that a roster like that does not come along every year. His frustration with Lane Kiffin is not that LSU lacks another Burrow or Chase. It is that the Tigers have spent heavily with no significant return. And he has issued an ultimatum to head coach Lane Kiffin.
“The honeymoon is over,” Fehoko said on his October 12 podcast. “We fired Brian Kelly, paid him a $50 million buyout while we were still paying Coach O for his buyout this past offseason.
“And we forklifted $90 million towards you to come in and win. Now, I don’t want to hear from the fans, and I don’t want to hear this excuse about giving Lane Kiffin time.”
The latest setback came against Kentucky on October 10. LSU took a late lead, let it slip away, and lost 35-34 in overtime. Kentucky improved to 5-1. LSU fell to 4-2 and 1-2 in SEC play.
For a team that entered the season with playoff ambitions, the defeat was more than an embarrassing result against an opponent many expected it to beat. LSU had control of the game and failed to finish it.
For starters, the QB play was shaky. Sam Leavitt finished with 275 passing yards and three touchdowns, but two turnovers hurt LSU. The first came on the opening play after halftime.
Leavitt sailed a slant pass over Eugene Wilson III, and the ball tipped into the hands of Kentucky safety Ty Bryant for an interception. Leavitt’s second mistake came with less than five minutes remaining.
As Kentucky brought him down, he tried to get the ball to running back Dilin Jones. The pass attempt ended in a fumble, handing possession back to the Wildcats when LSU had a chance to close out the game.
Most importantly, the special teams breakdown was glaring for a team that has invested more than $40 million in its roster. LSU’s punt team handed Kentucky a free touchdown.
Early in the second quarter, Brock Coffman took Grant Chadwick’s punt 55 yards to the end zone. Lane Kiffin was blunt about what went wrong, pointing out that an LSU player had a chance to bring Coffman down but missed the tackle.
Thereafter, in overtime, when Kentucky needed a two-point conversion, LSU again lost focus. The Wildcats took the lead when Baxter scored from a yard out. LSU then had to stop the two-point try to keep the game alive.
But the defense left the middle wide open. Kenny Minchey spotted the gap and ran straight through untouched, giving Kentucky a deserved 35-34 win. Of course, the Wildcats are playing world-class this year under former Oregon OC Will Stein. But Fehoko isn’t taking it as an excuse.
“I have no shade against the Kentucky Wildcats. I’m not trying to demean them,” Fehoko said. “The Kentucky Wildcats, they’re not known for football. They are a basketball school.
“Now, when I went to LSU and when the guys before me went to LSU, there were just certain schools in the SEC that you looked at that were just stat games. I’ll put it that way. If Kentucky had a playable quarterback, they’d probably blow us out.”
Kentucky did give LSU chances to win before overtime. Adam Zouagui missed from 42 yards and then again from 26 in the fourth quarter. LSU had time to take advantage of those misses but failed to finish the job.
Kiffin had a problem with Minchey’s first-half touchdown, believing the officials should have stopped the play when the quarterback’s forward progress ended. They ruled it a score, giving Kentucky a 21-17 lead at halftime.
But that call was only part of the story. LSU had its own chances to take control and failed to make them count. The fumble and missed chances that followed were mistakes the Tigers have to own.
Given LSU’s investment, fans expected a playoff berth. Now, with Alabama, Texas, and Tennessee still on the schedule, Kiffin has a chance to salvage the season
Winning all three would give the Tigers the kind of resume that could make their losses to Ole Miss and Kentucky less damaging and put them in a strong position for the playoff.
But LSU has plenty to fix before that stretch arrives. Sam Leavitt’s late turnovers have cost the team, and Kentucky just piled up more than 400 yards against the defense.
The Tigers cannot afford those same problems against three teams of that quality. They need to clean things up quickly.