LSU Falls More Than Any Ranked Team -10 Spots To No. 20 After Losing At Vanderbilt

GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

LSU suffered the biggest drop in the Associated Press poll on Sunday, while three of its remaining five opponents ascended.

The Tigers (5-2, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) fell 10 spots to No. 20 after a critical, 31-24 loss at No. 17 Vanderbilt on Saturday and are in grave danger of missing the 12-team College Football Playoff.

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Meanwhile, LSU’s next opponent – Texas A&M – this Saturday (6:30 p.m., ABC) rose from No. 4 to No. 3 for its highest ranking since 1995. The Aggies (7-0, 4-0 SEC) won, 45-42, at Arkansas (2-5, 0-3 SEC) on Saturday, but the good news for LSU is that A&M allowed 527 yards of offense after coming in with the No. 19 total defense in the nation with 294.5 yards allowed.

But the bad news for LSU, which couldn’t handle Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, is that Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green will be in Baton Rouge on Nov. 15. He completed 19 of 32 passes for 256 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for another 85 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries, including a 27-yard score.

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Pavia rushed for 86 yards on 17 carries with a 21-yard touchdown run and completed 14 of 22 passes for 160 yards and a touchdown against LSU. Vanderbilt put up 399 yards of offense on the Tigers, who came in at No. 21 in the nation in total defense, averaging 297 yards allowed a game.

“We had a plan for Vanderbilt’s offense, and we didn’t execute it to the highest level,” LSU coach Brian Kelly said. “We feel like we game planned and knew what his abilities are in terms of his ability to scramble. We had people that were assigned for that, and we just didn’t execute at the highest level that we needed to against a really good quarterback.”

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Texas A&M, which is 7-0 for the first time since 1994, is a 2.5-point favorite at LSU. Aggies’ quarterback Marcel Reed completed 23 of 32 passes for 280 yards and three touchdowns and rushed six times for 55 yards against Arkansas. It was Reed who came off the bench in the third quarter while trailing LSU 17-7 last season and rushed nine times for 66 yards and three touchdowns with two completions for 70 yards to beat LSU, 38-23, in College Station, Texas.

Asked how he keeps the loss at Vanderbilt from multiplying into more future losses, Kelly said, “It’s a competitive group. They have a lot of pride. They’re going to play hard. We just have to play smarter and cleaner. I’m not worried about the guys not wanting to play at their very best. They’re going to play at their very best.”

The Tigers will have an open date after hosting the Aggies, then travel to No. 4 Alabama (6-1, 4-0 SEC), which rose two spots on Sunday after routing No. 11 Tennessee, 37-20, on Saturday night.

After hosting Western Kentucky (5-2, 3-1 Conference USA) on Nov. 22, LSU plays at No. 13 Oklahoma (6-1, 2-1 SEC), which jumped one spot after beating South Carolina, 26-7, on Saturday.

“They’re still in it, you know,” Kelly said of his team’s slimming playoff chances. “They got Texas A&M at home. Then they got a week off, and then it’s a four-game race to the SEC Championship. Yes, it’s a disappointing loss. There’s no doubt. It’s going to sting, but they’ve got to bounce back to reality. And know that they’ve got to play mistake free against an outstanding A&M team.”

LSU lost starting left tackle Tyree Adams to an ankle injury in the first half. Sophomore D.J. Chester replaced him and did not play well. The Commodores collected two sacks and five quarterback hurries against LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier.

LSU’s defense played without injured starters Whit Weeks (ankle) at linebacker and Bernard Gooden (collarbone) at tackle.

“Look, everybody’s going to have injuries in this league,” Kelly said. “Everybody’s going to have top guys out. Our next man needs to step up and get the job done. We’re not going to fall back on, ‘We didn’t have our left tackle. We didn’t have this guy. We didn’t have that guy.’ We had good enough players in there to win the game. And we just didn’t execute at the highest level necessary against a team that played really well.”

No. 1 Ohio State (7-0) was the only team in the A.P. poll to remain where it was last week.

Indiana (7-0) is No. 2, followed by the Aggies, Alabama, No. 5 Georgia (6-1), which jumped from No. 9 after beating No. 5 Ole Miss, 43-35, No. 6 Oregon (6-1), No. 7 Georgia Tech (7-0), No. 8 Ole Miss (6-1), No. 9 Miami (5-1), which fell seven spots after losing to unranked Louisville, and No. 10 Vanderbilt (6-1).

The Commodores rose seven spots to their highest ranking since 1947.

The second 10 had No. 11 BYU, 12 Notre Dame, 13 Oklahoma, 14 Texas Tech, 15 Missouri, 16 Virginia, 17 Tennessee, 18 South Florida, 19 Louisville and 20 LSU.

The bottom five featured Cincinnati at No. 21, 22 Texas, 23, Illinois, 24 Arizona State and 25 Michigan.