The coach and the quarterback share credit and blame.
Saturday night in Lexington, the Tigers duo shared blame. Head coach Lane Kiffin took heat for punting late with a lead. Quarterback Sam Leavitt’s turnover problems were exacerbated in the loss.
The Tiger signal caller is the only one in the country with at least one giveaway in all six games. His eight interceptions lead college football.
“Sam played really well the majority of his plays and then had two really bad plays,” Kiffin said. “One he just inaccurately threw high, and the other one’s actually worse, because you can be inaccurate with the ball, just not protecting the ball ahead with the ball in that situation.”
LSU (4-2, 1-2 in SEC) had the chance to take a two-score lead with under five minutes to play. Jackson Harris had just fired a strike to Roman Mothershed for a 27-24 edge, and the defense had stiffened and produced a stop that turned into a missed field goal which preserved the Tigers’ lead.
Leavitt held the ball loosely and had it knocked free. Ultimately, Kentucky won in overtime.
Still Kiffin saw positives.
“Everything gets lost always because, you guys have heard me say that, because a kick goes in or someone makes a two-point play,” Kiffin said. “What if you don’t make the two-point play, or the coin tosses go the other way, so it’s us making the two-point play second to win, and then you’re saying, ‘Man, great job by Sam.’ So, I try to always look at things from not all outcome based and process based.”
Leavitt completed 74% of his throws. He was 6-for-8 passing on third downs and ran for 38 yards and a score. His evolution isn’t complete. It’s ongoing.
Kiffin liked a majority of Leavitt’s decision making and accuracy. LSU’s inconsistent offensive line forced him to make some plays with his legs, but he relied on his arm much of the night.
“Just always continue to try to get better,” Kiffin said. “Continuing to work on throwing on time, which he’s gotten better at. We all know that we wanted Sam to stay in the pocket and throw better on time, and he did that. He did that in the game really well.”
