LSU quarterback Danny Etling showed a lot of heart. The senior was hurting and had taken some hard shots from Troy’s defensive line Saturday but he came back in the fourth quarter because the Tigers needed him.

Unfortunately it wasn’t enough. Etling tried hard, throwing two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter and giving the Tigers one last shot at a miracle comeback. But with 11 seconds left and needing one more big pass to get the Tigers into field goal position, Etling was flushed from the pocket and threw an interception to Troy defensive back Blace Brown. And the shocking upset was complete.

Give credit to Troy. The Trojans came to play and be physical with the Tigers. Trojans running back Jordan Chunn had a couple of ill-timed fumbles that helped keep the Tigers alive, but he also gashed and pounded the LSU defense for 191 yards and a touchdown on 30 carries. It’s a rare day that LSU gets outrushed by a team not named “Alabama,” but it’s happened twice this year and it will likely happen again next Saturday when the Tigers go to the Swamp to be Florida’s homecoming opponent.

These struggles have been approaching LSU for several years now.

The program still hasn’t mentally recovered from the 21-0 loss to Alabama in the BCS National Championship Game. It wasn’t necessary because LSU lost to Alabama or lost in the title game, but it was the fact that it was going to be hard to keep up the pace of winning 11, 12, 13 games and competing for SEC titles as Alabama began to put distance between itself and its once-biggest threat to college football dominance.

LSU is still talented, but the Tigers aren’t as talented as they were, and each year the recruiting classes seem to lose a little more juice. The secondary is still very good, but it’s not elite like it used to be. The front seven is relatively young with some potential, but they aren’t the same strong physical specimens who once terrorized offensive lines on the regular.

The offensive line doesn’t seem to have that one special player who makes the unit better. The wide receivers are still very good, but years of poor play in the passing game is starting to take a small toll on recruiting at the position.

Blue-chip receivers want to play with blue-chip quarterbacks and LSU has struggled to find a difference maker at that position. Myles Brennan seems to have some potential, but he has some developing to do.

Last year the Tigers needed to move on from Les Miles. As good as Miles was for so many years, his “Mad Hatter” shtick had worn out its welcome in the Bayou as the Tigers slipped further from contention. Now LSU has to take a few steps back under Ed Orgeron before it can move forward and see if he’s the right man for the job.

Even if Orgeron isn’t the answer, he’s a good enough recruiter to put together solid classes and he’ll work overtime to keep the top in-state prospects home and set up the roster for the next guy if necessary.

But make no mistake about it, LSU is in full-blown rebuilding mode.

Losing to Troy on Saturday and snapping a 49-game win streak against non-conference opponents at Death Valley was disappointing, but it’s likely to get a lot worse this season before it starts to get better.