Brian Kelly reveals extent of Jayden Daniels' injury
The LSU Tigers’ hopes of a College Football Playoff spot came to an end on Saturday night after a shocking 15-point loss to Texas A&M on the road. In the game, LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels was battling an injury, which head coach Brian Kelly commented on after the loss.
“He’s got an ankle,” Kelly said of Daniels. “The ankle was the last one. The first hit, I think he bounced back from that. The second one was more of an ankle.”
Daniels has been a huge reason that LSU was even in the mix for the College Football Playoff this season but on Saturday he struggled to have that similar success he has had this year. Daniels went 21-of-35 in the air for 189 yards and no touchdowns. Daniels also added 84 yards on the ground, but did not score their either.
Kelly was impressed by the play of his quarterback but admitted that playing from behind put him in a tough spot. The Tigers gave up the first score of the day and never once had a lead on Texas A&M during Saturday’s game.
“I thought he did a great job protecting himself,” Kelly said. “Sliding protections, I thought he was as good as he’s been all year, in terms of protecting himself and doing a great job in protections. They ran a lot of two-man, so, you know, they got two or three holding calls, could’ve been a lot more. It is what it is, I’m not here to talk about officiating. I thought he did a pretty good job. You get behind in those situations, it’s a little more difficult dropping eight into coverage.”
LSU’s postseason hopes dashed
LSU entered Saturday with a 9-2 overall record and had already secured a spot in the SEC Championship game. That created a very possible path to the College Football Playoff if the Tigers were able to upset Georgia. Now, it looks like the playoff is out of reach for LSU, regardless of Saturday’s result against the Bulldogs.
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The College Football Playoff rankings have not been released yet but the Coaches Poll has been released early on Sunday morning. In those rankings, LSU tumbled to No. 13.