Lane Kiffin points to one problem after LSU’s overtime loss at Kentucky

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Kenny Minchey ran a two-point conversion into the end zone untouched in overtime on Saturday night, giving Kentucky a 35-34 win over No. 10 LSU at Kroger Field. Kentucky fans poured onto the field, and Lane Kiffin left it under police escort as some of them made rude gestures in his direction.

The Tigers led 27-24 with 97 seconds left in regulation. Kentucky needed only 1:25 to go 63 yards for the tying field goal, then matched LSU’s overtime touchdown on a C.J. Baxter run before Will Stein kept his offense on the field to go for two.

Kiffin pointed to a Kentucky punt return that got outside after LSU had a player in position to make the stop.

“If you don’t execute the punt return, got a player there tackling them, and he doesn’t tackle them,” Kiffin said after the game.

He added: “So if you don’t do fundamentally sound stuff, you get exposed versus good teams.”

LSU was flagged seven times for 50 yards to Kentucky’s two for 20, a gap that fits the fundamentals complaint. The Tigers also ran 36 times for 94 yards, and Sam Leavitt’s 25-of-34, 275-yard night with two touchdowns could not get a tight game home.

Lane Kiffin points to a lack of execution as LSU falls to Kentucky https://t.co/ot4QcvL9Tt
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 11, 2026

Dec 1, 2025; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; LSU new head coach Lane Kiffin speaks at South Stadium Club at Tiger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

Earlier in the week, Kiffin had a quote attributed to Minchey running on video boards inside LSU’s football facility: “LSU’s defense hasn’t seen anyone like us and our offensive line yet.” Minchey never said it. The quarterback LSU had cast as a villain all week finished the night with no touchdown passes, and the decisive two points came on a run where no LSU defender got near him.

A week earlier, Kentucky rallied from 17-0 down to beat South Carolina by the same 35-34 score in overtime, with Minchey throwing the winning two-point pass to Willie Rodriguez. The Wildcats have now won consecutive one-point overtime games on two-point plays, and they still entered Saturday as 9.5-point underdogs.

Why do LSU’s SEC road games keep slipping away?

Both of LSU’s losses have come on the road, and the Tigers sit at 4-2 overall and 1-2 in SEC play. Their losing streak in conference road games is now eight, a run that started before Kiffin arrived from Ole Miss and has followed him into his first season in Baton Rouge.

Lane Kiffin’s Efforts Stand Out as Five-Star Receiver Tours Campus and Drops “Just Different” Reaction (Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images)

Kiffin’s explanation centered on tackling and assignment football, the kind of problems a staff can fix on the practice field.

Close road games keep breaking the same way for this program, though, and LSU’s last SEC win away from Tiger Stadium came at Arkansas on Oct. 19, 2024.

Lane Kiffin points to one problem after LSU’s overtime loss at Kentucky

Why do LSU’s SEC road games keep slipping away?

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