newsweek
Following a 22-21 comeback win by the Texas Longhorns in Baton Rouge, first-year LSU coach Lane Kiffin assured that stronger rosters are on the horizon for the Tigers. The loss came a week after LSU squandered a lead against Alabama, dropping the team to 6-4 and extinguishing its College Football Playoff aspirations.
The Tigers' remaining regular-season games—a road trip to No. 8 Tennessee and a Nov. 28 visit to Arkansas—no longer have playoff implications. LSU invested $54 million to buy out Brian Kelly and then signed Kiffin, formerly of Ole Miss, to a seven-year, $91 million contract.
When questioned about LSU's long-term foundation, Kiffin was direct. "I'm not concerned about that at all," he said. "I'm concerned that we lost. I'm not concerned about the future. I said it weeks before when we were winning, that we'll have better rosters. And that's no poor reflection upon these players. We just will. We will have been here. We'll have built depth. We won't have senior days with two scholarship players."
LSU held a 21-10 lead with 5:52 left in the third quarter, but the offense punted on each of its final four possessions—its longest such streak of the season. Texas responded with two field goals. Trailing by five with six seconds remaining, Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning sent running back Raleek Brown in motion, and Brown took a quick swing pass 4 yards for the score without being touched. Quarterback Sam Leavitt, a prized transfer, threw three interceptions, two in the red zone, which Kiffin described as poor decisions.
ESPN Research noted that LSU's streak of 111 consecutive home wins after holding a double-digit lead past halftime came to an end. The last such loss was to Tennessee in 2005. Kiffin acknowledged that the financial investment has raised expectations. "I get it," he said. "Underperformance, doesn't matter if the game's been close or they go down to the last, whatever, six seconds. We were brought here to win, and we need to win more than that."
Key Analysis
Kiffin pointed to Texas coach Steve Sarkisian, who went 5-7 in his first year at Austin, as a comparison. However, that comparison comes with a caveat: LSU's roster budget is set to jump from approximately $18-20 million in 2025 to well over $40 million in 2026, according to CBS Sports. Kiffin holds a 15-28 career record against AP Top 25 teams, and his next opportunity against a ranked opponent is a road game at No. 8 Tennessee.
Originally reported by newsweek.