Paul Finebaum tears into Lane Kiffin after LSU’s loss to Alabama: ‘Kiffin choked’
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Paul Finebaum was ready and waiting to punish Lane Kiffin for LSU‘s miserable performance at home in Week 10, as the Tigers fell to rival Alabama at Death Valley to basically puts its College Football Playoff hopes on death watch.
For LSU to still make the Playoff after its 31-13 setback to the Crimson Tide on Saturday, a whole would have to happen, and Finebaum put the blame squarely on Kiffin on Sunday during his weekly college football recap appearance on The Matt Barrie Show.
With the 6-3 Tigers being dealt a crushing third loss of the 2026 season and sitting at .500 in the SEC with a 3-3 mark, the ESPN college football analyst and longtime SEC observer didn’t hold back on the first-year LSU head coach who has failed to back up the bluster he came with when he bolted Ole Miss for Baton Rouge.
“I have said to you and others that I thought Kiffin would get it turned around at some point and win a national championship,” Finebaum said.
“But you have to wonder if Lane Kiffin isn’t just all sizzle and no substance. I mean, I didn’t see anything (Saturday night) that impressed me. They had so many opportunities, and when it came down to a call from the sidelines, Kiffin whiffed. Kiffin choked.”
And now, Kiffin will get another chance to prove himself at LSU in a spotlight game, with Texas coming to Death Valley for a primetime showdown in Week 11 (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC).
The ranked matchup is another chance for Kiffin to provide a different narrative on his first season in Baton Rouge. Right now, the narrative is trending in the wrong direction with that Alabama loss, and Finebaum will be watching once again this Saturday night to see if Kiffin can answer critics like him who are starting to turn on the controversial coach.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
