“With LSU out of consideration for College Football Playoff elimination, Brian Kelly at tipping point.”

Almost three years ago, Brian Kelly arrived in Baton Rouge for the first time as coach of the LSU Tigers to much fanfare. The one-time aspiring politician was treated as if he were a cross-border conquest hero who arrived in the Bayou after a shocking exit from a successful stint with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Standing at the podium for the first time in purple and gold, he told his assembled electorate that being part of the SEC was both the opportunity and the challenge of a lifetime.

After a 42-13 loss at the hands of the Alabama Crimson Tide that sent those same fans streaming toward the Tiger Stadium exits with 15 minutes to play on a humid evening, that opportunity seems almost as distant as the challenge is daunting.

“What we thought would be an exciting night turned out to be a disappointing night,” said a calm Kelly, lacking any of the excitement he displayed after a loss to the USC Trojans resulted in a fist bump. “We didn’t make the most of the chances we had. Certainly a lot of things didn’t go that way tonight.”

Don't try anything. Nothing went the right way for the Tigers. They kicked two field goals in the first half and then needed 11 seconds left on the clock to prevent them from failing to score a touchdown against the Tide for the first time since they were eliminated at the same venue in 2018. There are few things more one-sided in SEC play than what unfolded Saturday night.

“I felt like that was probably the most complete game we've ever played,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said, not saying he meant to emphasize it but instead underscoring the message the scoreboard showed nonetheless. “Coming into a difficult environment, just taking it game by game and just staying the course.”

That's what they did, and now that ultimate team trajectory, once derailed by a still-unfathomable loss to the Vanderbilt Commodores, is back on track toward another College Football Playoff appearance and Alabama's usual chance at a national one Title.

The one that the Massachusetts salesman looking to move south is currently trying to control the Tigers? Well, this seems more aimed at a New Year's trip to Florida that no one wants to take.

This season, Kelly is learning in near real time how the expanded College Football Playoff will impact coaches – not just those across the country, but especially those in the SEC. Not only are you expected to enrich the field with the amount of resources available, from zero funds to facilities to a nearly unparalleled recruiting base, but you're also expected to gain something at the same time.

But missing the field entirely, as it certainly looks like will happen with a third loss on your resume? Well, that might be about as big a faux pas for the 102,283 LSU fans who filled Death Valley as it was for the state's governor to allow a real tiger on Saturday because the real school mascot didn't want to deal with it.

“We had a plan to stop the quarterback run. We didn't manage that. I take responsibility for it and [defensive coordinator] Blake [Baker] will not shirk responsibility. We have to put our players in a position to be successful,” Kelly said. “We’re not trading any of them, there’s no waiver – we’re not bringing anyone up from the demo team. We have to find the right answers to what works best for the guys we have, and that hasn’t worked very well the last few games.”

At this point, the squad is what it is – and depends entirely on the head coach. While there are building blocks that can form the core of a contender — freshman Caden Durham averaged 7.9 yards per carry, sophomore Whit Weeks led the team with 15 tackles — that's not good enough. The talent isn't there when compared to LSU teams of the past, and what's worse, the quality players that are there seem to have a knack for making a play that they shouldn't be making at the exact spot, where they should Really shouldn't.

The issues that Kelly didn't address during his time in Baton Rouge were on full display in the fabled “middle eight” — the final four minutes of the first half and the first four of the second — against the Tide. Trailing 14-6, the Tigers gained some momentum by stopping Alabama at midfield on fourth down. Death Valley once again embodied its nickname, as the oppressive humidity was matched by the volume of the choking noise that rained down on the field.

But instead of smothering the tide, it was LSU that wrapped its hands tightly around its throats.

On the first play after the takeover, quarterback Garrett Nussmeier caused the low point of a below-average one-touchdown effort with 27 of 42, 239 yards passing and a touchdown with the first of his three turnovers. Linebacker Jihaad Campbell ran virtually untouched on a delayed blitz up the middle, forcing the junior signal-caller to flush left. However, there was no escape as Campbell threw the ball free onto the wet grass and the eagerly awaited Tim Smith was barely able to save the ball.

Tide star quarterback Jalen Milroe then needed just three plays to find the end zone, weaving through the middle of the LSU defense with ease to highlight their problems with mobile quarterbacks. With 5:30 left in the second quarter, he equaled the LSU team's rushing total and didn't look back as he racked up 185 yards and four scores on the ground, overshadowing a crisp 12-of-18 passing night.

Milroe also delivered enough highlights to put himself back in the Heisman Trophy hunt. He took advantage of Nussmeier's interception in the end zone and turned it into a 28-yard draw at the other end that found the promised land and all but confirmed the defeat. Given the Tigers' undisciplined nature this season, a personal foul (which resulted in fans starting throwing objects onto the field) prolonged the drive, preventing Milroe from even having a chance.

We went from down one point to 28-6 in the third quarter in what felt like the blink of an eye. A 72-yard touchdown run down the right sideline on the first play of the fourth quarter turned the knife one last time and sent remaining fans streaming to the exits.

“I thought our game plan was really good. “Obviously his speed is really good and you can't really explain that in practice or on film,” said linebacker Greg Penn III, one of seven Tigers to record seven tackles or more in the game. “He is a great player. I liked our plan – they just went out and executed it.”

“I think we sent a message to every team that Alabama can run the football,” offensive lineman Tyler Booker said. “That’s what we’re capable of every week.”

If Alabama is capable of pushing a team off the field by 29 points in a top matchup, why isn't it LSU? The Tigers are not replacing the greatest coach the game has ever seen, nor have they lost a number of key contributors to the transfer portal. The fact that they have shown signs of being capable, such as in the Ole Miss Rebels' upset a few weeks ago, only makes matters worse.

Kelly is a good coach. In a college football universe that only has three active head coaches with a national title, he honestly could be a borderline great coach. That's what longevity and a dozen 10-win seasons get you.

But he and LSU have suddenly found themselves at a crossroads they never expected, let alone three years into a decade-long contract. The Tigers' administration won't be as happy and show him the door as the Texas A&M Aggies did with Jimbo Fisher, but those once-sneaking doubts that Kelly wasn't the solution he was portrayed to be, well, them it's a full-blown crisis of trust.

Kelly is just 5-9 against ranked opponents over the last four years. That record isn't bad, and he's won an SEC West title and produced a Heisman Trophy winner along the way.

Still, his successor in South Bend, Marcus Freeman, is 10-5 against ranked opponents over the same span, despite being much worse than Kelly at recruiting and landing transfers. On the sidelines, DeBoer is 15-3 in appearances at Washington and now Alabama.

Both have shown an Achilles' heel that Kelly doesn't have in losing to the completely unexpected (DeBoer to the Commodores, Freeman inexplicably to the Northern Illinois Huskies and Marshall Thundering Herd). But both have also positioned their teams firmly for the playoffs.

That is the motto in 2024 and the standard that the 68 coaches in the power conference must pursue in the future.

“We're now dealing with a second loss in the SEC,” Kelly said a few minutes after he ceremoniously left the field as the handful of fans who were there just to let him hear that message reflected on his ejection cheered. “Things are looking up.”

Right now, LSU isn't even at its peak yet. That's the problem. Kelly is committed to this type of pressure. He asked for the challenge. As he now realizes, life comes at you quickly if you're not ready for the occasion.

For a coach who always strives to be mentioned with colleagues like Kirby Smart and Nick Saban rather than lumped in with the James Franklins of the world, Kelly never seems up to the task with this troubled program. but they also produce coaches who win national titles.

“You're living on borrowed time when you're constantly putting yourself in these difficult situations,” Kelly said. “Tonight the dam broke.”

That doesn't mean much to the LSU coach. He's already underwater, watching opportunity fall upon him.