Lane Kiffin and Brian Kelly are paid like they're elite. Now, coach like it | Toppmeyer
About $19 million in head coaching salaries and no national championships will be on opposing sidelines when Ole Miss hosts LSU on Saturday.
Lane Kiffin and Brian Kelly are paid like elite coaches, but that adjective didn’t describe either team’s performance Saturday.
Kiffin’s offense looked as ill-prepared as I’ve ever seen it in a 24-10 loss to No. 12 Alabama.
“We’ve got to coach better, come up with better things,” Kiffin said after Ole Miss (3-1, 0-1 SEC) converted just three of 14 third downs.
The Rebels have been in a tailspin since Auburn’s interest in hiring Kiffin became a loud narrative throughout the last several weeks of last season. He is 1-5 in his past six SEC games, and his best victory at Ole Miss came nearly three years ago, against Indiana in a bowl game.
Oh, and Ole Miss’ most lopsided loss last season was a 45-20 defeat to LSU, in which the Rebels disintegrated after halftime — much like they did against Alabama.
LSU got all it could handle from Arkansas in a 34-31 home victory that reiterated the Razorbacks possess one of the SEC’s premier quarterbacks in KJ Jefferson — and little else.
Despite playing without their top running back, the Razorbacks (2-2, 0-1) amassed 426 yards. It marked a flare-up of LSU’s defensive vulnerabilities that cost it the game against Florida State in Week 1.
“These are the games you have to find a way to win,” Kelly said after LSU prevailed on a late field goal.
Credit LSU (3-1, 1-0) for finding that way, but a narrow home win against a team of Arkansas’ ilk warns of difficulties ahead.
Kelly said before the season he thought 2024 was a reasonable timeline for LSU to contend for a national championship. It has become evident through four weeks why he felt that way.
Beating Ole Miss is not a task that needs to wait. LSU achieved that feat last year, and with many familiar faces returning, it should be expected to beat the Rebels again, especially considering Kiffin’s struggles against Top 25 teams.
When Auburn plays three quarterbacks, it means it has none
Hugh Freeze’s Year 1 challenge is a continuation of Auburn’s critical problem in Bryan Harsin’s final season: The Tigers don’t have a quarterback.
In fact, Texas A&M has at least two quarterbacks better than anyone on AU’s roster. Aggies backup Max Johnson played well after Conner Weigman’s injury to take care of Auburn, 27-10.
“Offensively we're searching, and we got to find some answers,” Freeze said.
A coach gets only one honeymoon season to experiment, but AU’s quarterback depth chart doesn’t give Freeze many enticing options with which to tinker. He tried three quarterbacks Saturday. They all struggled, combining to produce 56 passing yards.
And what about Bo Nix? He’s completing nearly 80% of his passes for undefeated Oregon. Some say Auburn’s boosters were Harsin’s big problem. No, Harsin was Harsin’s big problem, and a lack of an SEC-caliber quarterback is now Freeze’s problem.
Four-star quarterback Walker White is committed to AU’s 2024 class, but Freeze needs more immediate help. How he fares fishing for a quarterback in the winter transfer portal period will be critical to next season going differently than this one.
TOPPMEYER: Jalen Milroe tells the truth of Alabama football after reporter's baited question
Just like I predicted?
The SEC’s three remaining undefeated teams after four weeks are Georgia, Kentucky and Missouri. Just like we all predicted.
Florida’s Graham Mertz leads the SEC in completion percentage (77.8), and Missouri’s Brady Cook ranks fifth (72.0). Just like we all predicted.
Watch Jalen Milroe run. Watch Milroe throw deep
How many games can Alabama win by hanging its hat on quarterback runs and deep shots? We might find out. Those two things are what Jalen Milroe does best. His two third-quarter deep strikes changed the direction of Alabama’s win over Ole Miss.
Offensive coordinator Tommy Rees called a couple of quarterback sweeps, but he needs to expand Milroe’s designed-run package.
GOODBREAD: How far can defense carry Alabama football?
Also, Milroe is 10 of 15 (66.7%) on throws of at least 20 yards, according to Pro Football Focus.
How good is that? Bryce Young was 28 of 74 (37.8%) on such throws during his 2021 Heisman Trophy season. Milroe doesn’t read the field like Young does, but he threatens defenses in other ways. Rees must play to Milroe’s strengths, and the offensive line needs to give Milroe opportunities.
Best line I heard this week
“Hugh Freeze is supposed to be an offensive genius, but I watched him do stupid stuff.” — an Auburn fan seated at a bar counter in Prattville, Alabama, after the Tigers' loss to Texas A&M.
Three and out
1. No. 1 Georgia’s first four games were against unranked opponents in Athens. Next comes a road game against Auburn. I’ve just outlined how deficient Auburn’s offense is, but this will be junior quarterback Carson Beck’s first road start. It will come in one of the SEC’s most challenging venues. “Their fan base is second to none,” Georgia’s Kirby Smart said of Auburn.
2. Mississippi State’s secondary suffered significant departures off last season's nine-win team. It shows. Spencer Rattler completed 18 of 20 passes with three touchdowns in South Carolina’s 37-30 victory over the Bulldogs. First-year coach Zach Arnett wanted to forge a hard-hat culture, but MSU’s defense is out to lunch.
3. Rattler is playing incredibly well for a team that’s going to have to scratch and claw to reach bowl eligibility. Sort of reminiscent of Jay Cutler receiving first-team All-SEC and SEC offensive player of the year honors in 2005 for a Vanderbilt team that finished 5-6.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's SEC Columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.
The "Topp Rope" is his twice-weekly SEC football column published throughout the USA TODAY Network. If you enjoy Blake’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it. Also, check out his podcast, SEC Football Unfiltered, or access exclusive columns via the SEC Unfiltered newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Lane Kiffin and Brian Kelly paid like they're elite. Now, coach like it
