Joel Klatt sees LSU as SEC Championship contender, says Lane Kiffin ‘absolutely meeting expectations’
By Jacob Moss
Published:
The LSU Tigers are about to reach the midway point of season 1 under head coach Lane Kiffin this weekend against the Kentucky Wildcats, and it’s been hard to get a solid read on who they are so far.
The Bayou Bengals have yet to hit the meat of their schedule, and their one real test so far ended in a 32-24 loss against Ole Miss when Kiffin made his return to Oxford back in Week 3.
Despite LSU’s early setback against the Rebels, Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt remains extremely high on both Kiffin and the Tigers, and he laid out why on Wednesday’s episode of The Joel Klatt Show.
“They’re kind of where they need to be at this point, and they have, what I think is the most important thing to have in the SEC, and that is a pass rush,” Klatt said. “They can get after the passer. They’ve got things on the defensive side that will cause major problems for the direct schedule and competitors… Don’t look now, but LSU could absolutely make a run at the SEC Championship.”
There’s no denying that the defensive side of the ball has been the strength for the Tigers so far this season, which is very crazy to think about given what we have come to expect offensively from Kiffin-led teams.
Whether or not they are as good as Klatt believes they are remains to be seen, but they will have plenty of chances to prove they belong in the SEC Championship picture over the next 7 weeks.
