Former LSU star is right to put pressure squarely on Brian Kelly

This game is going to go down as a huge one for the LSU Tigers. They’re 5-2 and coming off a loss to No. 17 Vanderbilt. The Tigers are still ranked, No. 20 in the nation, but one more loss could very easily knock them out of the College Football Playoff picture.

To make matters more dire for Brian Kelly and the Tigers, up next on the schedule is No. 3-ranked and undefeated Texas A&M Aggies. Mike Elko’s team has beaten Notre Dame this season and is 4-0 in SEC play. The Aggies could very well be a contender to win it all this season, so they’re a huge threat to Kelly and the Tigers.

The one thing LSU has going for it? This game is going to be in Death Valley — at night. Baton Rouge is going to be wild for this one, so LSU should have a sizable home-field advantage. The Tigers will need it too, or at least Kelly will, because a former LSU All-American and current football analyst Booger McFarland believes there’s a ton on the line in this one — and he’s right.

“First and foremost, I was told by a wise man a long time ago, ‘It’s a poor dog that won’t fight in his own backyard.’ So we’re going to find out just how much fight the LSU Tigers have in Tiger Stadium on Saturday night,” McFarland said Thursday on ESPN’s legendary two-man talk-show, “Pardon The Interruption” (h/t On3). “But this is may be the biggest game of Brian Kelly’s tenure.”

Brian Kelly and the LSU Tigers under immense pressure against Texas A&M Aggies

As mentioned, the Tigers are coming off a loss to Vandy, which was previously unthinkable, but now it’s a reality of college football. This game against Texas A&M is going to be a challenge, to say the least. Then the Aggies will go up against a red-hot Alabama team that’s ranked No. 4 in the nation.

LSU could very well lose three in a row if the Tigers don’t beat the Aggies, and there’s a realistic chance LSU could finish this season at 7-5 when you look ahead and see a game against No. 13 Oklahoma to end the season (with winnable games against Arkansas and Western Kentucky in between).

Kelly may not survive a 7-5 season, especially when considering all the resources that were put into this team via NIL deals and the transfer portal. Coaches are getting fired left and right at the moment, and Kelly is no “bigger” of a name in the sport than James Franklin or Mike Gundy.

That makes this game super important — both for him and the Tigers.

“But this is, I think, the biggest game of the Brian Kelly era so far because of what’s at stake, because of the era we’re in and because of the expectations that the LSU fan base — and not only the fan base, but the LSU coach said himself, this is a Playoff team. So this is the biggest game of his [LSU] career so far,” McFarland said.