Ten Takeaways: Week Nine

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1. What's next for LSU after firing Brian Kelly?

You'll hear a lot in the coming weeks about LSU's next coach needing to be the "cultural fit" in Baton Rouge that Brian Kelly wasn't. It was an odd pairing from the start. On one side: A prick(ly guy) from Massachusetts who'd spent his entire three-plus decades of coaching at northern schools. On the other: LSU. I don't even need to expand on that. LSU has always, and will always, exist in its own little universe that only makes sense to the people in it. It's why Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry reportedly played such a large role in Kelly's firing.

From the moment Kelly faked the funk with a southern accent in his first public appearance as head coach, you knew that he knew he had his work cut out for him when it came to his perception among LSU fans. Brian Kelly was never one of them, and never could be. But here's the thing: A West Virginia-born, Kent State alum who was hired from Michigan State named Nick Saban wasn't either - until he was. Same goes for Ohio-born Michigan Man™ Les Miles. So how did they become part of the Bayou's fabric? They won!

Brian Kelly got fired simply because he didn't win at the level LSU fans and decisionmakers demanded from him. Sure, being an outsider –and if we're being honest, an ass– didn't help his cause. The reality is that failing to win an SEC title or even make the playoff in his three-plus seasons made Kelly a bad fit at LSU.

In a coaching carousel filled with heavy-hitting schools –and maybe even more to come– LSU is the clear-cut most attractive job open right now. They should be able to snag whoever they want. Whether that's Lane Kiffin, Clark Lea, Eli Drinkwitz, or whoever else, the expectation is clear: Win big, and you'll fit the unique culture in Baton Rouge just fine.

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2. Soapbox time for me about Colorado

As someone who's spent the past twenty years watching Colorado play some of the worst football imaginable, I don't say this lightly: Their performance against Utah was an utter disgrace to the program that Deion Sanders, his staff, and every single player should be ashamed of.

There was the Dan Hawkins era, which inauspiciously began with a 19-10 loss to FCS Montana State and ended with a blown 45-17 fourth-quarter lead against Kansas. Two years of Jon Embree brought a dismal 4-21 record that included 70-14 and 69-14 beatings. A year after making the Pac-12 title, Mike MacIntyre's 2017 team entered November 5-4, then lost their final three games to miss a bowl. They also gave up a record-327 yards rushing to Arizona QB Khalil Tate that season. A 5-0 start the next year gave us hope. Seven-straight losses – which included blowing a 31-3 lead against Oregon State at home– crushed it, costing MacIntyre his job. I spent the first season of this website's existence writing about Karl Dorrell. His tenure is easily the most depressing in program history. Hell, even the first two years of the Deion Sanders era had some bruises. The infamous Oregon loss, and the collapse against Stanford, in particular. Everything I just referenced was bad. Some of it (Dorrell) was all-time bad. None of it was as pathetic as what the Buffs put on display against Utah.

Utah dominated Colorado to a degree I've never seen in major college football. Every single aspect was historically lopsided in the Utes' favor - from the scoreboard, the disparity in the coaches' gameplans, and the execution of their players. The 53-7 final score doesn't even do justice to how ugly it was.

Utah scored on the second play of the game, then on their next six drives for a 43-0 halftime lead. 260 of their 398 first-half yards came on the ground. They did all of this with a true freshman QB making his first start, by the way. Their defense and special teams were just as outstanding. Utah held the Buffs to minus-18 first-half yards, had 5 sacks, and even outscored Colorado 2-0 thanks to a safety. They also blocked a punt, while executing a successful fake punt of their own. Both were 100% schemed up during the week because of what Utah's coaches must've seen on tape from CU's atrocious special teams:

Those are just two examples of 60 full minutes of Deion Sanders and his coaching staff having no answers for anything Utah threw at them. Offensive Coordinator Pat Shurmur has 35 years of offensive coaching experience, yet somehow still doesn't have anything in his arsenal to counteract pressure. Meanwhile, Defensive Coordinator Robert Livingston's group stays getting gashed by the same concepts week-after-week. An already catastrophic run defense allowed 422 yards - the second-most for the program since 2010. Opponents have already run for 1,738 yards this season, 570 of which come from QBs alone.

Beyond poor coaching and players failing to execute on the field, the vibes wafting off this team just plain stink. Last week, Deion mentioned a few key players being late coming back from the bye week. Exactly what you want to hear about a team fighting for bowl eligibility! The team's on-field body language shows where they're at right now, too. QB Kaidon Salter –a fifth year-player who's supposed to be the leader on the team– reacted like this to a first-quarter playcall:

There are far worse teams in Colorado history than this one. There are Colorado teams who've taken worse beatings on the scoreboard than what Utah just gave them. None of them were ever as unlikable as the 2025 Buffs became the other night.

Embree and Dorrell were bad head coaches fielding bad teams I expected to get bulldozed each week. Watching them lose was depressing. MacIntyre and Hawkins were a step above that. They fielded teams who could play decent in stretches, but then would eventually crumble in spectacular fashion. Watching them lose was agonizing. Watching this team –a 3-4 group coming off a Top-25 upset, a bye week, and fighting for bowl eligibility– not even bother to show up against Utah was disgusting. The only player who remotely looked like he cared was tackle Jordan Seaton (No. 77). He didn't even play well, but he's the only guy (player or coach) who should be allowed to wear the logo at the facility this week. The rest of them don't deserve the privilege:

I went to bat for Deion when Colorado hired him, when everyone got mad at his portal strategy, and plenty of other times the past three years. I'm a Coach Prime guy, and I'm rooting my ass off for him to succeed. But I don't care if the head coach is him, my dad, or anyone else on the planet: What happened against Utah was disgraceful, and needs to be fixed immediately. I hold Deion and this particular Colorado team to a higher standard than those previous Buffs teams. Why? I believed they could clear the impossibly low bar in front of them when it comes to multi-year success in Boulder. That's exactly why I feel like a real idiot right now, because these guys don't even care enough to believe in themselves or show up for the people who do.

3. Ole Miss escapes Oklahoma with a win