Hot yoga class.
Extended interviews with Vanity Fair.
Poking the SEC in the eyes as often as he could during the offseason.
It’s easy to lean on a coach who brought all of this on himself after his second loss in his first six games, but it’s time for Lane Kiffin to carry that.
As college football’s main villain, that’s not how he was supposed to look for it as a freshman at LSU.
And now the excuses are starting to pile up for the Tigers coach, who insisted on officiating after Saturday night’s overtime loss to Kentucky. Embarrassed by the explanations he received from officials regarding the Wildcats’ successful fourth-and-goal drive to end the first half, Kiffin said the play should have been stopped when Kenny Minchey’s forward progress appeared to have stopped.
“The line (judge) just said, ‘Hey, in this situation, there’s just too much at stake,'” Kiffin said Sunday. “If progress is stopped, you whistle to protect yourself and because it’s the rule. Don’t report it because it’s a very big play.”
Kiffin disagreed with the reasoning for the whistle.
“The rules are the rules. So if you see it that way, then see it that way,” Kiffin said. “That’s my complaint about it. It all comes down to one whistle. So, it is what it is.”
LSU’s road woes continue as Kentucky stuns No. 10 Tigers, adding pressure to CFP hopes
Austin Nivison
Kiffin also took issue with the running of the clock during overtime on Kentucky’s two-point attempt and was bothered by the fact that officials gave the Wildcats a timeout instead of flagging them for a false start in front of Minchey’s game-winning goalie.
“The false start happens, they’re going to run it back, and they’re going to score the extra point, and we’re going to go to the second overtime,” Kiffin said.
By the way, none of these complaints are filed if LSU manages to stop Kentucky’s two-point try and wins the game, 34-33. Instead, they are amplified after a superior team fails to become a double-digit favorite on the road.
Kiffin’s Fourth Trial Explanation
LSU had a chance to ice the game with 1:46 left, facing a fourth-and-1 situation from its own 43-yard line. Kiffin has never shied away from going, but in this case he was, on the road in a conference game that teeters on must-win connotations given what’s left on the Tigers’ schedule.
“The way their kicker had missed two field goals,” Kiffin said. “Worst case scenario, we go to OT, and that’s what happened.”
Wouldn’t it be THE Why are you keeping your offense on the field and trying to move the chains?
If you’re already convinced that Kentucky kicker Adam Zouagui — who had already sniffed two field goal attempts in the fourth quarter — was going to miss another kick or, at worst, send the game to an extra session, why not try to avoid that scenario altogether?
Kiffin’s explanation for playing football and not trying to win the game in the regulation victory lineup by simply earning another year was strange.
After last season’s loss to Georgia while coaching at Ole Miss, Kiffin said he kept a note in his pocket that said: “‘Hey, when you stand up and you get a chance, man, you gotta go for it. Don’t score goals. Don’t be conservative.'”
Kiffin’s team led by two touchdowns in that one and lost. At Kentucky on Saturday night, the Tigers had already dodged two game-tying balls on special teams, but decided to give the Wildcats another chance to tie the game.
And they did.
After the defeats, the excuses continue
After LSU’s first loss of the season at Ole Miss, Kiffin, days after the game, harped on the volume of the music disrupting his team’s offense. Regardless of the fact that his offense struggled to find a consistent rhythm, with quarterback Sam Leavitt coming out of the pocket, Kiffin pushed another narrative.
“These games happen, and a lot of factors come into play,” Kiffin said during the following week’s SEC teleconference, referring to the atmosphere at Ole Miss. “We didn’t guard around him very well. The crowd noise and the music playing throughout the snap when the center’s hand is on the ball. Over and over again.”
SEC rules require music inside stadiums to be turned off once the center touches the ball, and Kiffin argued that wasn’t the case last month. Perhaps Vaught-Hemingway Stadium’s record attendance had something to do with LSU’s noise and lack of execution.
LSU’s margin of error is close to zero
After slipping 10 spots to No. 22 in Sunday’s latest AP rankings, the Tigers (4-2) will need to heat up down the stretch to qualify for the College Football Playoff — this season’s ultimate goal. They host 16th-ranked Mississippi State this weekend and will travel to Auburn on Oct. 24 before getting a chance to regroup on the opening date.
In November, LSU hosts sixth-ranked Alabama and No. 7 Texas travels to 14th-ranked Tennessee and ends the campaign with a matchup against Arkansas. A nine-win result might not be enough to advance to the 12-team bracket, considering the strength of the record advantage other potential 9-3 SEC teams might have over the Tigers.
As it stands, the “ranked” win over Texas A&M a few weeks ago won’t hold up when the CFP selection committee’s first top 25 is released the first week of November. LSU has some outstanding opportunities coming up and must deliver for Kiffin to earn his salary in year one.
Gn sports
