Booger McFarland: LSU vs. Texas A&M is 'biggest game of the Brian Kelly era'

Following last week’s loss at Vanderbilt, LSU enters Saturday’s game against Texas A&M with a 5-2 record. The Aggies are the last remaining undefeated team in the SEC, and Booger McFarland sees plenty at stake for Tiger head coach Brian Kelly.

McFarland called the Week 9 matchup “the biggest game” of Kelly’s tenure in Baton Rouge. A third loss would effectively take LSU out of College Football Playoff contention, and McFarland pointed out the challenge of going to Alabama in Week 11 after the bye, as well.

As a result, he sees Saturday’s game against Texas A&M as a must-win for LSU. Additionally, McFarland cited the need for the Tigers to avoid a 5-4 record after Kelly publicly said the program spent $20 million on the roster.

“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 Pardon The Interruption. “But this is may be the biggest game of Brian Kelly’s tenure.

“Let me explain. No. 1, LSU is 5-2 after losing to Vanderbilt. They play Texas A&M at home Saturday night, they have a bye week next week and they go to Alabama. So you’re essentially, if you lose Saturday night – you’re not going to be favored against Alabama – you could be 5-4 with three games left after you told everybody you spent $20 million on a roster.”

McFarland also noted the high-profile coaching changes and sizable buyouts around college football. Florida is due to pay Billy Napier upward of $20.4 million after parting ways last week, and Penn State made the historic decision to fire James Franklin despite his $48.6 million buyout.

That’s why he sees the pressure ramping up around LSU. Given the expectations, Saturday’s game is especially important for Kelly and Co.

“This coming off the fact that Florida has fired Billy Napier, Penn State has paid hundreds of millions to get rid of James Franklin,” McFarland said. “Like, money doesn’t seem to be an object anymore. I just want to know where everybody’s getting it from.

“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.”