Is Brian Kelly in trouble? After back-to-back six victories, the LSU Tigers lost to Texas A&M 23-38 this Saturday. What is surprising for you? Well! Head coach Brian Kelly is confident that his team will make it to the playoffs despite suffering their first SEC defeat of the season. On the other hand, Texas A&M is the only unbeaten team left in the SEC. LSU is among three teams with just one SEC loss so far. Will they bounce back?

While we are talking about SEC teams’ playoff hopes, let’s discuss LSU’s one of the strongest opponent, Notre Dame Fighting Irish. 7-1! They are looking strong so far. Head coach Marcus Freeman must be so proud of his team. But it looks like college football analyst Josh Pate is not on the same page with head coach Marcus Freeman. He strongly believes that they are “overrated.” However, he has expressed his belief that LSU has a “higher ceiling” compared to other teams in the league.

In the latest episode of Josh Pate’s College Football Show, he discussed his JP Poll rankings. He raised eyebrows with his assessment of Notre Dame’s ranking. Now, you would be wondering why. Let’s hear straight from him, “Because of the way the sport looks this year, Notre Dame is number seven. I continue to think Notre Dame is a little overrated, according to the model, but the model’s been very consistent on Notre Dame. It bumped them up four spots so it respected the heck out of what they just did against the Navy.” He believes other teams, such as Penn State and Ole Miss, would likely be favored in a matchup against them. “The model would not agree with that. So take it up with the model, not me. As I said, Penn State eight. Ole Miss Nine. Still very dangerous team.” However, his comments highlight a growing debate about the Fighting Irish’s true standing in the competitive college football scene. Are you on the same page as Josh?

No one expected LSU to lose. However, CFB is heating up and we can expect the unexpected. LSU has dropped to the 13th spot in the CFB. and despite this decline, Josh believes that LSU possesses a higher potential as a team than several others ranked above them, including Notre Dame. “LSU is down to 13. They dropped three spots. I still think LSU has a higher ceiling as a team than several of these teams around them, including some of them ranked up.” He backed Brian Kelly and his squad and mentioned, “I think the LSU ceiling is higher than Notre Dame, which is well ahead of LSU. It’s higher than several of these teams.” LSU’s recent games have raised questions about their performance and potential. While they have dropped in the rankings, there’s still a belief that they can improve and compete at a high level. Right now, Kelly has all the time to go back and look at the film as they are enjoying their bye week. Till then, let’s hear his take on their recent performance.

Brain Kelly’s thoughts on LSU’s fourth-quarter struggles

“Exceedingly well,” Kelly said after they lost their second game of the season. Aggies head coach Mike Elko made a bold move to stop LSU from winning their straight seventh victory. He decided to switch quarterbacks when they were down by 10 points in the third quarter. He asked Conner Weigman to come out and brought Marcel Reed to boost their struggling offense. Was it an effective move? Yes! After Reed stepped in, he scored three crucial touchdowns and helped Texas A&M win over No. 8 LSU.

Although he believes the team did well and he did not hold back from appreciating them, he also reflected on the team’s performance in the final quarter, emphasizing both their preparation and the need for improvement. “So what we did well is we prepared well; we came out emotionally, physically, did the right things,” Kelly added, “But we didn’t finish.”

Like all of us, Kelly compared LSU’s performance to their earlier games against South Carolina and Ole Miss, where they started poorly but managed to win. In the weekly press conference, he added on their recent loss and how they found themselves on the opposite side of their trend.

Bye week is crucial for them! They have no time as they are preparing to face Alabama, one of the strongest programs.