Brian Kelly has put together the most productive offense in the country.

Jayden Daniels and company are putting together the 2nd-best offensive season in LSU history.

But the soon-to-be lower than-No. 14 team has just a 6-3 overall record and 4-2 SEC record to show for all of the exploits of Daniels and Malik Nabers and Brian Harris Jr. and Logan Diggs and the rest of the offense.

The Tigers lost to Florida State 45-24 in the season opener, and only Boston College (29) has scored more points against the No. 4 Seminoles than LSU did.

The 49 points that the Tigers scored against Ole Miss were by far the most allowed by the No. 10 Rebels, but LSU gave up 55.

And on Saturday night, the Tigers lost to No. 8 Alabama 42-28 despite scoring more points on the Crimson Tide than anyone other than Texas (34), which handed Bama its only loss.

It’s Tell the Truth Monday … ugly truth edition.

And the ugly truth is that the LSU defense is a complete failure.

The offense is a whole lot of fun, but the defense is far, far below the standard of not only SEC contenders but also what the Tigers historically have been.

The 2019 championship season was an aberration with Joe Burrow having an historic season while leading one of the most prolific offenses in NCAA history.

The “Chinese Bandits” defense was a hallmark of Paul Dietzel’s tenure that included the 1958 championship season.

Charles McClendon became the winningest coach in LSU history primarily because of outstanding defenses.

Nick Saban restored the Tigers program and ended a 45-year championship drought in large part by developing the elite defensive play that has become the hallmark of his historic career.

And Les Miles maintained what Saban built by winning a national championship in 2007, not with an elite defense but with a very good one, certainly better than what Kelly has produced in 2 seasons.

The high-powered offense that Daniels has directed for 2 seasons is nice and probably necessary to compete for championships in college football today.

But it will never produce a championship unless it is complemented by an adequate defense, one that’s at least as adequate as the unspectacular one that rode Burrow’s coattails to a 15-0 record.

The truth is that Kelly’s No. 1 priority between now and the start of the 2024 season has to be a thorough examination of the defense’s failure and the steps that must be taken to avoid a repeat of the embarrassments of this season.

That starts with an evaluation of coordinator Matt House and the defensive staff – not just in terms of schemes, game-planning and play-calling – but also in terms of player development.

It doesn’t appear that the LSU defenders – most notably 5-star recruits such as tackle Maason Smith and defensive back Sage Ryan – are developing at a satisfactory rate.

And speaking of recruiting, Kelly needs to evaluate whether he has been too dependent on the transfer portal. In order to develop perennially SEC-quality defenses, the Tigers will need a foundation built on high-school recruits – talented recruits that develop at a faster rate than has been the case thus far – with transfers sprinkled in.

The front of the LSU defense was dominated by an Alabama offensive line that had been inconsistent this season.

The Tigers have had persistent bouts of poor tackling throughout the defense and have been prone to allowing big plays.

They never had an answer for Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe, who had 4 of Bama’s 6 rushing touchdowns.

Even after Milroe ran for 3 first-half touchdowns, which enabled the Tide to keep pace with Daniels and the LSU offense and forge a 21-all halftime tie, the Tigers never improved in their attempts to slow him down.

The Tigers took a 28-21 lead on the first possession of the third quarter, but the offense didn’t score again and Bama scored 3 more touchdowns on the beaten LSU defense.

There are 3 more games in this season – visits to Tiger Stadium by Florida, Georgia State and Texas A&M – followed by some sort of bowl game.

That’s still a lot of time for Kelly, House, etc., to try and salvage some respectability for the 2023 defense.

But then comes the most important challenge – fixing the fundamental defensive problems in a program that traditionally has been able to pride itself on its performance on that side of the ball.