Five reasons the LSU Tigers lost 42-21 to Kentucky
It is becoming an all-too-familiar scene for the LSU Tigers this season, really the last 16 games. The team led by head coach Ed Orgeron getting beat in the trenches on both sides of the football.
The Tigers had their collective backs against the ball needing a win in Lexington, Kentucky. The last time they played at Kroger Field the Tigers lost 43-37 in triple overtime. They would still go on to win the national championship that season, definitely won’t be the case this year.
The Tigers are now 8-8 in the last two seasons under Orgeron since the perfect 15-0 campaign during the 2019 season. At LSU .500 football just isn’t going to cut it. If you thought the whispers surrounding the head coach’s job were loud before, they might be screaming now.
LSU lost by three scores to Kentucky for the first time since 1999, following the season the team made a change at head coach. They went with Nick Saban and the rest is history.
After another demoralizing loss for the Bayou Bengals, we look at five reasons for the latest loss.
No fight in the LSU Tigers
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As the game wore on, it was clear that Kentucky was enforcing its will. Players getting blown off of blocks, defenders running free at the quarterback during the game. For a team that needed this game before playing Florida, Ole Miss, and Alabama in the next four weeks, they didn’t have any sense of urgency.
Ed Orgeron outcoached again
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This football team didn’t look prepared at all for this game. The offense had zero continuity, only scoring 14 points in the fourth quarter after the game had well been decided. Another instance where the lack of communication on offense came back to bite them. On defense, there were too many breakdowns. It isn’t getting any better for Coach O.
Chris Rodriguez and Kentucky ran all over the defense
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The Wildcats running game was ready in this game. Chris Rodriguez Jr led the way with 16 carries for 147 yards and a touchdown. He added another in the passing game as the LSU defense didn’t even cover him on fourth down. Overall, Kentucky ran for 329 yards on 45 attempts. The defense gave up 7.3 yards per attempt.
Max Johnson didn't play well, got no help from his offensive line
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We are going to call a spade a spade here. Without question, Max Johnson didn’t play well at all. After starting out a perfect eight for eight in the first quarter, it wasn’t pretty for the sophomore quarterback. He was missing throws and often telegraphing others. We can’t put it all on Max as his offensive line and receivers did him no favors. Outside of the sudden run game, not a lot of positives on that side of the ball.
Turnovers or lack thereof
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There was just one turnover in this game, it came from the LSU side. On the opening drive, Max Johnson was hit from his blindside and Kentucky came up with the football. They would punch it in for the early lead. Will Levis hasn’t been good protecting the football, averaging over one interception per game. He was perfect on Saturday night. With an offense struggling, LSU needed to help them out with a big play on defense or special teams and it never came to fruition.
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