Two Truths and A Lie: Disappointing end to a disappointing season

By Chris Marler

LSU began the year as a preseason top ten team, and ended it by giving up 38 points to one of the newest Power Four programs in the country in their second consecutive trip to the Texas Bowl.

Truth No. 1 – Trey’Dez Green is the best tight end in America. 

I’m not reckless enough to crown him the nation’s best offensive weapon, but I’m getting awfully close. 

Green’s development from the start of fall camp to now has been incredible to watch. Since August, one of my main focuses while watching practice was watching Green. It’s tough not to feel that way. Watching him grasp the fundamentals of blocking at this level and evolve into more than just a physical mismatch has been impressive.

The Texas Bowl was just the latest example of this kid’s potential. We saw flashes of his development all season, starting with red-zone fades and jump balls, but the run-after-catch ability and defender-shedding physicality in Houston were new.

6’7″ Trey’Dez Green came down with this 😳 pic.twitter.com/eqGd8Uj38f

— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) December 28, 2025

Truth No. 2 – There’s still a lot of growing up to do. 

Any thought of former five star DJ Pickett stepping in and becoming the next Mansoor Delane took a major blow last night. 

Pickett was abused for most of the night allowing five catches for 62-yards on seven targets. Despite his 6-foot-5 frame he was routinely beaten by 6-foot-7 TE Tanner Koziol. Koziol finished the night with nine catches for 76 yards and a touchdown that he caught over Pickett. 

Pickett still had an outstanding freshman season, but the main point here is that there is still a lot of growing up to do for some of the young guys on this team. The same goes for Harlem Berry. Berry led the team in rushing once again, but after a fumble on his third carry of the game, he didn’t see much more meaningful action the rest of the night. 

Berry is an elite talent, and the glimpses of why he was the No. 1 running back in America coming out of high school constantly flash. Again, there are still areas for improvement and more importantly, consistency. 

Harlem berry having 3 carries in this game is absolutely asinine

— Geaux Tigers (@GeauxTigers050) December 28, 2025

The Lie – Lane Kiffin is a cure all. 

Lless than 12 hours after the Texas Bowl, Paul Mubenga announced that he will be entering the transfer portal when it opens on Jan. 2. He becomes the fifth LSU offensive lineman to announce their intention to enter the portal. Lane Kiffin has been phenomenal at acquiring portal talent, finishing with a top four class in each of his four years at Ole Miss. 

That’s great to have as a confidence booster, but LSU is looking at a second consecutive year where they will have to replace four players on the O-Line with significant playing time. That’s not easy to do in a league where games are won and lost in the trenches. The flipside of that is that this is arguably the worst offensive line in decades for the Tigers and a fresh start across the board would be great.

Bottom line, I fully expect Kiffin to bring in an elite class from the transfer portal, and fully trust his ability to orchestrate a top tier offense regardless of who is even starting at the skill positions. The track record he has speaks for itself. The idea that his mere presence is going to fix a position unit that has been a massive liability all year long overnight is not something I’m completely sold on. 

Lane Kiffin left the Texas Bowl shortly after his appearance on ESPN and didn’t stay for LSU’s entire game pic.twitter.com/Zs4PERAdA1

— Unnecessary Roughness (@UnnecRoughness) December 28, 2025