BATON ROUGE, La. – Brian Kelly asked the question we all had on our brains. The way the No. 13 Tigers played Saturday in a 42-13 tail-kicking by No. 11 Alabama, you might’ve thought LSU learned of its opponent 90 seconds before kickoff. In fact, LSU had two weeks to prepare for Alabama.

The Tigers coach is 5–9 against ranked opponents over the last four seasons after a throttling by Alabama, creating a crisis of confidence.

LSU coach Brian Kelly repeatedly blamed himself for a 42-13 loss to Alabama on Saturday night, a defeat that almost certainly ended any hope of a College Football Playoff berth for the Tigers. They dropped to 6-3 overall and 3-2 in SEC play as Kelly acknowledged they face an uphill climb if they want any shot at a conference title.