Two Truths & A Lie: LSU vs. Vanderbilt

Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

By Chris Marler

It’s Sunday morning, and though it may not feel like it for LSU fans, the sun still came up. Here are two truths and a lie after the Tigers’ loss to Vanderbilt.

Truth No. 1 – Money doesn’t buy you happiness.

One of the biggest stories coming into this season was how much money LSU spent on the 2025 roster. It was a fascinating story from every angle. Losing out on the No. 1 overall prospect in America, Bryce Underwood, definitely sucked, but it also freed up roughly $7 million in NIL funds to go on a shopping spree in the transfer portal.

LSU brought in a wealth of talent on both sides of the ball. They went out and bought the best safety, best cornerback, several offensive lineman and some elite wide receivers. They brought in 18 players, another top ten recruiting class and spent around $18 million on this year’s team.

It’s a good team. There’s talent everywhere, but they’re not good enough.

Sometimes you lose a game you should’ve won. Sometimes you lose to worse team that just gets hot. Neither one of those things happened today.

Vanderbilt is better at football than LSU right now.
Tough reality, but here we are.

Clark Lea is awesome and Pavia is a baller.

— Matt Flynn (@mflynn3) October 18, 2025

That might sound harsh, but it’s the truth, and sometimes the truth hurts. What’s worse is that this team’s issues seem to multiply with each passing week.

In the preseason we watched fall practice and felt confident that the only real issue and weakness on this 2025 LSU team was going to be the offensive line. That grew into issues with the offensive line and the run game. That grew into the offensive line, run game and lack of explosives in the passing game.

We’re nearing the end of October and the list of issues continues to lengthen and stretch to the other side of the ball after the performance in Nashville.

Truth No. 2 – The team has lost their identity.

It feels like the scariest part of this season for LSU fans isn’t the losses or the potential losses down the road. The biggest concern after watching Blake Baker’s defense get gashed by Vanderbilt is that there’s nothing tangible you can point to and feel confident about.

Going into this game, it felt like the one thing we knew is that the defense was one of the best in the country. Even without Whit Weeks,, who was sidelined with an injury, it felt like they would be able to get stops against a Vanderbilt offense that has been pretty one dimensional.

The strength of Vanderbilt’s offense is the run game. They rarely make self-inflicted mistakes, stay ahead of the chains, and control the game’s tempo better than anyone in the SEC, leading the league in third-down conversions at 56%.

You ready to get mad all over again?

LSU called a TO because they had 10 players on the field. pic.twitter.com/2wJpHO1gzc

— Michael Cauble (@Cauble) October 18, 2025

Still, LSU should have been able to get enough stops to give the struggling offense a chance to win this game. Instead, Vanderbilt ran for 239 yards, which is the most they’ve had against a ranked team in the last 30 seasons. Among all the historic stats and milestones LSU fans have heard too many times, that’s the one that hurts the most.

Next week, Texas A&M comes to town and the only thing LSU needs more than a win is to find their identity.

The Lie – The season is over.

I can already feel the collective eye roll from everyone reading this, but hear me out: the season isn’t over yet.

AP voters, you’re on the clock.

LSU should not be ranked come Monday.

Wins over Clemson (3-3 as of this moment), Florida (2-4 at this moment), South Carolina (3-4).

Don’t let opponent brand bias fool you. Lost to the only two teams with a pulse on their schedule so far pic.twitter.com/SrLNTL3Gwy

— Aaron Torres (@Aaron_Torres) October 18, 2025

LSU has five games remaining, including three against top-15 teams. Two of those are on the road, with Oklahoma, Alabama and Texas A&M still ahead.

Two of those games are very winnable. Oklahoma’s offense has been average, ranking tenth in the SEC in scoring offense and yards per game. Texas A&M has played only two road games this season, giving up 82 points in those contests and winning against two inferior opponents by a combined four points.

I’m not ready to call the Alabama game a potential win just yet, but the point stands, the outlook is bleak, and I get it. Still, a 10-2 SEC team will make the College Football Playoff this year. With November chaos ahead and the ACC and Big 12 likely landing just one team each, LSU’s season isn’t over yet.