LSU's Season Has Already Reached the Breaking Point

The LSU Tigers find themselves on the brink of a failure season in year one of the Lane Kiffin era after losing on the road to the Kentucky Wildcats in overtime.

Despite plenty of change before the season, including a new regime and over 50 new faces on the roster, the Tigers find themselves in a similar situation to last season, with a gauntlet of a schedule still ahead of them.

The Tigers have plenty of questions to answer this season, but with two losses already, the season is already teetering with six games remaining.

Two Critical Questions to Answer

LSU Tigers quarterback Sam Leavitt (10) runs the ball against the Kentucky Wildcats during the third quarter at Kroger Field. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Tigers have two important questions they still need to answer: can they win on the road, and can they limit the amount of big plays surrendered to their opponent?

The Tigers are yet to win on the road this season, having lost to the Ole Miss Rebels, and despite a second-half surge, they were being throttled in the first half. Now, against the Wildcats, the Tigers lost their second straight road game, this time in heartbreaking fashion once again.

Looking ahead to the rest of the season, the Tigers have only three more road games, and two of them should be easily winnable: trips to Auburn and Arkansas, both struggling SEC teams this year. Sandwiched between those, however, is a trip to Knoxville to take on the Tennessee Volunteers, serving as another major test for the program.

What will help limit the risk of losing on the road could also involve limiting the number of explosive plays given up. Big plays, which are classified as rushes over 10 yards and passes completed for 15 yards or more, were a problem against the Wilcats, surrendering 10 of them for 245 total yards.

That has continued to be a trend, and against the last two Power Five opponents faced, the Texas A&M Aggies and the Rebels, it was a problem then as well. The Tigers surrendered eight against the Aggies for 115 yards, and 12 to the Rebels for 250 yards.

With two more top-10 opponents still on the schedule, the Tigers' season is still salvageable, but fixing the mistakes and limiting the big plays will make a difference. One more loss could be the difference between playoffs in year one of the Kiffin era, and a collossal failure of a season.

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