BATON ROUGE — Tiger Stadium was blanketed with an immense sea of deep purple light, 102,000 in attendance awaited the big unveiling.
To be more exact, two huge reveals.
The first one was near the south end zone, where a small-covered cage basked in yellow light. Fans patiently waited for the semi-surprise. The blanket was pulled and what appeared was a heavily sedated rent-a-tiger from Florida named Omar obtained by Gov. Jeff Landry.
Landry tried to turn back the clock, returning to pre-PETA protest days when it was acceptable to wheel LSU’s official live tiger mascot named “Mike” into Death Valley and have the Tigers’ cheerleaders pound on the cage to make him roar into a microphone to hype an already thoroughly lubricated crowd of all-day drinkers.
PETA issued a pregame statement Saturday saying Omar’s owner had numerous federal citations including multiple incidents in which tigers he owned escaped during performances.
Even Omar roaming free as an LSU defensive spy on Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe couldn’t have helped. A football Saturday that started with College GameDay live on campus ended with a massive thud.
Despite having a week to prepare to face the most vulnerable Crimson Tide team in a generation, LSU got embarrassed at the hands of Alabama. As time expired inside a soggy and near-empty stadium – so much for it never raining inside Death Valley – the Tigers were on the receiving end of a 42-13 beating.
As LSU coach Brian Kelly astutely stated afterward, “If you’re watching the game, you’re like, ‘What did these guys do for two weeks?'”
Fair question because LSU was outplayed in all facets of the game.
Tigers quarterback Garrett Nussmeier looked frazzled as he committed three costly turnovers. The offensive line continued to underperform with run blocking and pass protection, and the defense was atrocious.
Milroe rushed for a career-high 185 yards – most by any Tide quarterback since 1979 back when Alabama ran the old-school run-heavy Wishbone offense – and scored four rushing touchdowns vs. LSU for the second straight year.
This was despite the Tigers coming off an open date and having an extra week to prepare for a running quarterback, after giving up three rushing touchdowns to Texas A&M’s QB Marcel Reed two weeks ago in the second half of a dispiriting 38-23 road loss to the Aggies.
This happened against an Alabama team no longer led by the greatest college coach of all time, Nick Saban, and a Crimson Tide squad that entered the game with two losses, including one to Vanderbilt. It didn’t matter as LSU’s hopes for a conference championship and making the expanded College Football Playoffs vanished without a trace into the night as quickly as Omar.
It wasn’t supposed to be that way.
With the liquor flowing early for all-day tailgating, the day started on such a celebratory note as LSU’s power couple – likely National League Rookie of the Year winner Paul Skenes and LSU gymnast/mega social media influencer Livvy Dunne – served as the guest pickers on GameDay. The show which now has the retired Saban as a panel analyst, was in Baton Rouge for the first time since LSU’s 2019 national championship season.
Former Tiger gridiron greats Andrew Whitworth, Jamal Adams, and Leonard Fournette had sideline passes for the game. Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Seimone Augustus (now an LSU women’s assistant) and Olympic gold medalist pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis were on hand too.
Not to mention there were a slew of top prospects – future Tigers if you were – that were on the sidelines, including the nation’s No. 1 quarterback (Bryce Underwood), running back (Harlem Berry), and cornerback (DJ Pickett).
Then the game began.
The lopsided loss showed how flawed this year’s Tiger team truly is, and how they are still a year away from being a legit contender for anything besides the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl.
Nussmeier is still learning how to be a consistent quarterback. Whether it is his decision-making or play calling by Joe Sloan, the first-year starting QB has been a mixed bag.
His 2,866 passing yards and 21 touchdowns are second most in the SEC, but his 11 interceptions are also second most in the league and 16th in the country. Nussmeier averages 41.7 passing attempts per game, which is second in the country among Power Conference quarterbacks.
His completion percentage (62.4) is good, but he hasn’t completed over 70 percent of his passes in a game since September. Nussmeier is also throwing way too much.
With three regular-season games remaining, he has 375 passing attempts. In their first full seasons for the Tigers, Heisman winners Joe Burrow had 379 total passing attempts while Jayden Daniels had 388.
The other issue is that the heralded offensive line is a massive disappointment. The group is not physical enough to run block and is whistled for too many penalties. Despite having possible NFL first-round draft choices in tackles Will Campbell and Emory Jones, LSU’s line is flawed.
Daniels’ fantastic running ability hid those deficiencies in the past two seasons. The unit has been exposed. That is why you saw Alabama simply blitz, blitz, and then just sit on short routes, which frustrated the offense.
LSU’s defense has taken legitimate strides under new defensive coordinator Blake Baker, and assistant coaches Bo Davis and Corey Raymond. The Tigers are far better this season than they were a season ago, as they have vaulted from No. 108 to 69 in total defense.
That said, the team struggles with running quarterbacks.
Earlier this season, South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers gashed LSU for 201 total yards and three touchdowns before an injury sidelined him for the second half. Reed, meanwhile came off the bench in the second half to replace struggling starter Connor Weigman, and had 132 yards and three rushing touchdowns.
Then came Milroe, who was so untouched LSU’s defense couldn’t have yanked his flag in a flag football game.
Linebacker Harold Perkins regressed for a second straight season before suffering a torn ACL. Safety Major Burns has taken a step back and was caught making a business decision on television during Saturday’s game.
LSU’s best playmakers on defense are sophomore linebacker Whit Weeks and senior defensive end Bradyn Swinson, who began his career at Oregon. Those are the only two legit playmakers on that side of the football.
The Tigers don’t have enough talent on defense to compete for a championship.
Kelly has been successful in his three years at the helm of the purple and gold. He has won 10 games in back-to-back seasons, two bowl games, claimed an SEC West Division title in 2022, and saw Daniels hoist the program’s third Heisman Memorial Trophy last season.
He also is doing well on the recruiting trail as he has secured the No. 6 and 5 overall classes in 2023-24, and right now has the No. 3 class for 2025.
LSU is closer to competing for championships when he arrived to find a team with fewer than 40 players on scholarship. But it is still lagging behind more than many thought it for a guy banking more than $9 million a year in salary.
It does feel a little bit like Les Miles post-2011. Every season, LSU would be a nationally ranked team, win 9 or 10 games but also lose a road SEC game, lose to Alabama, and not compete for a conference or national title.
Kelly is a far better coach than Miles and inherited a program in far worse shape than Miles did, too. He also has a proven track record of winning at every level, from a pair of national titles in Division II to winning league titles at Central Michigan and Cincinnati and playing for a national title at Notre Dame.
But he and recruiting guru Frank Wilson must recruit better defensive players, develop the line of scrimmage, and improve focus and overall preparation.
Kelly’s teams have started slowly, losing openers to Florida State in 2022 and 2023 and this season to USC – as well as suffering two defeats each to Alabama and Texas A&M and one to Tennessee.
LSU entered this season with high expectations as it had a new defensive coordinator and ranked in the top 15. The team lost its season opener to then-No. 23 nationally ranked USC but reeled off six straight wins before being humbled by the Aggies on the road, and routed at home by Alabama.
That’s the same script LSU followed in 2002, the year before winning the national title in Saban’s Tigers’ fourth season. Does that mean LSU’s championship potential will be uncaged in Kelly’s fourth season in charge in 2025?
The Purple and Gold faithful sure hope. They’ve grown tired of underwhelming Tigers, like poor ‘ol Omar who’s now such a negative historical footnote that LSU fans will act like he never existed.
Raymond Partsch III is the co-host of “RP3 & Meche” which is broadcast weekdays (11-1) on ESPN 103.7 Lafayette and 104.1 Lake Charles — Southwest Louisiana’s Sports Station.