Raise your hand if you have any idea what I’m talking about with that title.

It certainly doesn’t have to do with how Coach DiNardo’s tenure ended at LSU.

It was a great win for LSU (5-2, 2-2) on Saturday over Mississippi State, clean and stressless for the most part. It seemed at times that they were simply coasting through exactly what we said to go do in our piece on Friday: the simplicity of just going win a football game. Of course, one snag is the ever-mounting injury questions, and perhaps the curious occasional breakdowns on defense and an offensive line that makes Dilin Jones summon his inner Sega Genesis college football player.

That’s actually quite a lot, and why they have two losses on the year and are ranked 18th instead of in the top five after Saturday’s topsy-turvy day, one anyone could have expected happening at some point. I’d expect at least one more. This could very well look like 2007 by the end.

Which means LSU needs to just keep focusing on the next six seconds in front of them, over and over again.

What the Shutout Showed

It was LSU’s first shutout of an SEC opponent at home since Kentucky in 2006, and now makes eight consecutive quarters in 2026, going back to the Texas A&M 35-6 win, that the Tiger defense has not allowed an SEC opponent into the endzone at home. Of course the shutout was aided by the Bulldogs being forced to go for it on fourth down deep in Tiger territory, but Blake Baker’s defense also had to stop them, which they did five times to give the ball back to the offense on downs.

TJ Dottery had 12 tackles and Davhon Keys 10 on Saturday. Ty Benefield had a pick after the Tiger defensive line forced Parker Puckett into an errant throw.

Offensively, as we stand right now, we have a quarterback who is getting more consistent and must continue not to turn the ball over, as he accomplished Saturday, going 31-for-38 for 289/4/0. We have a lead receiver in Jackson Harris who got banged up late on Saturday, who Coach Kiffin says should be fine, who had six catches for 85 yards and two touchdowns. We have a bell-cow tailback who can run it and catch it, accounting for 142 total scrimmage yards against State. They started fast and maintained that pace through the first half, and their opening second-half possession consumed 8:10, covering 74 yards in 16 plays before a field goal.

We have a lot of things, and I could go down the list, including on defense. But we also have a lot of gaps because of injury and depth, something that should not be glossed over. If everyone can point to Mississippi State being significantly hampered by not having their starting quarterback on Saturday, certainly it should be obvious, as this space has tried to say over and over again over the last few weeks, that missing three impact players, perhaps playing at an All-American level, is going to hurt.

I actually know of LSU fans who shrugged their shoulders at the trouncing Saturday and said it was because they didn’t have their quarterback, mere days after shrugging their shoulders at LSU’s injury bug and saying that it shouldn’t matter because of the money.

I’ll say this again: For Tiger fans’ own peace of mind, I hope we can do ourselves a favor and stop moving the goalposts on ourselves.

Still, I feel the anxiety, because LSU now must go on the road again in what was supposed to be the light October of their 2026 schedule and face an upstart Auburn team who just beat No. 1 Georgia on the road. In fact, in a bit of LSU history, the Tigers’ last SEC road victory was 34–10 at Arkansas on October 19, 2024—exactly two years ago today. And given LSU’s first two road games in Oxford and Lexington, the Tigers are certainly not trending in the right direction, on either side of the ball.

LSU points allowed per game at home: 8.8

LSU points allowed per game on the road: 33.5

LSU points scored per game at home: 45.0

LSU points scored per game on the road: 29.0

That is worthy of a “yikes,” and why this space has spent so much time addressing the religion of preparation, the danger of rat poison, and the importance of Kiffin and his staff insisting that the team focus on what is right there in front of them.

 

I hope to have another strange little LSU football/religion video next week, whether the Tigers win or lose on Saturday.

Getting Past Auburn

Interestingly for those who enjoy this kind of thing, there is some history here, especially for those of us who remember the 1990s. In 1993, Curley Hallman’s Tigers beat Mississippi State 18–16 in Starkville, giving fans and the program early-season hope, then came home and got drubbed by Auburn 34–10. A year later, LSU beat State 44–24 before traveling to the Plains and producing one of the most maddening losses any Tiger fan has ever endured. A 23–9 late-game lead became a 30–26 defeat as Jamie Howard threw five fourth-quarter interceptions, three returned for touchdowns. Back then, the understanding was beating Mississippi State was something LSU could do, but getting past Auburn was another matter. That recurring obstacle is what makes the comparison worth considering today, with LSU now trying to end an SEC road losing streak that stretches back eight games.

After Hallman was let go, Gerry DiNardo arrived with the infamous “Bring Back the Magic” sales pitch. His first LSU team followed an impressive, freshman Kevin Faulk-led 34–16 victory in Starkville with that unforgettable 12–6 win over fifth-ranked Auburn in Tiger Stadium in 1995 (I was there in the student section, complete with a Tiger face painting). The “Bring Back the Magic” game ended with Troy Twillie intercepting Patrick Nix in the end zone on the final play. Auburn never scored a touchdown. After what had happened the year before, LSU had finally finished the job, and with the same Jamie Howard at quarterback. Of course Kentucky in Lexington and the purple pants happened not long after, and LSU was right back to the ups and downs of the 1980s and the Bill Arnsparger era.

It is why Nick Saban would come along and be amazed that the entire program and fanbase were suffering from catastrophe syndrome—a belief that at any moment, the bottom could fall out.

Getting past that made Saban and LSU champions.

Now Kiffin must put similar shortcomings to rest.

This past Saturday was encouraging in itself, and something I as a writer and memory keeper of those DiNardo/Arnsparger roller coasters can’t help but think about: Kiffin’s Tigers prepared and executed at a high level for an early home kickoff without needing the electricity of a rabid Saturday-night crowd.

Now, the shutout of Mississippi State leaves the road obstacle to take care of—and this is just as much a question concerning Lane Kiffin and his history on the road as it is about the state of LSU’s football program.

Protecting the ball, finishing drives in the redzone, attacking relentlessly on defense, and keeping their composure when the home team has its own crowd behind them—all of that has to travel with them if they’re going to prove their mettle, if they’re going to prove that the Oxford and Lexington lessons were learned. Most of all, Kiffin must take all the reasons he was hired in the first place on the road with him. If it’s 4th-and-1 with a single yard separating the game from hanging in the balance to a Tiger victory, you go for it. Something tells me that after Kentucky, that decision has already been made.

Playing to an ironclad identity, week in and week out, must become the only trick LSU ever needs.

We’ll have our prediction on Friday, but as of now, we are thinking that LSU will have to prove it first before we go with the confident mindset we had before the Kentucky game. LSU needs to focus on the next six seconds over and over again this week before they can expect to have any chance on the Plains.

Thank you for reading The Hayride!