As LSU stumbles in SEC and Brian Kelly stalls, let's reconsider his Notre Dame era

Texas A&M made LSU look bad, Missouri made Alabama look good, and Travis Hunter gave Heisman Trophy voters something to muse with a fantastic showing on offense and defense in an important Colorado defeat of Cincinnati.

LSU became the lone team in the top 15 to lose in what turned out to be one of the season’s most undramatic Saturdays. Ohio State and Texas nearly heightened the tension but escaped with wait-to-exhale victories against Nebraska and Vanderbilt.

The College Football Playoff bubble remains overcrowded, but Missouri and Illinois exited contention.

Here’s what lingers on my mind after Week 9 as the schedule turns to November:

Will Brian Kelly ever win the elusive national championship at LSU?

Not this season.

LSU’s 38-23 loss to Texas A&M didn’t knock the Tigers out of playoff contention, but it pushed them to the brink of elimination, and it further revealed that LSU plays too one-dimensional to be taken seriously as a national title contender in Kelly’s third season.

When did Kelly become a coach who needed his quarterback to “stand on his freaking head,” as he put it after this loss, to have a chance at success?

Kelly’s Notre Dame teams tended to play a little defense, and they usually established a ground game, too. LSU features none of that.

When Kelly left Notre Dame, the prevailing narrative became that he'd taken the Irish as far as they could reasonably expect to go, and that LSU would afford him a better platform to win the national championship that had eluded him.

How’s that mission progressing? Well, Kelly’s third LSU team ranks no better than his first.

Maybe, Notre Dame didn't limit Kelly's ceiling after all.

Texas A&M’s Mike Elko coached circles around Kelly in the second half, and the Aggies rallied past a two-score deficit. The Aggies were unable to handle LSU’s pass rush, so Elko swapped quarterbacks so that Marcel Reed could operate the read-option. LSU acted like it had never seen such an attack.

LSU's Garrett Nussmeier experienced a second-half meltdown, and the Tigers simply can’t survive if their quarterback falters. Nussmeier powers this entire operation.

Kelly almost never loses to lousy opponents, but he wilts against the best teams on his schedule. LSU isn’t paying Kelly $10 million annually just to beat Arkansas. LSU’s previous three coaches each won a national championship, and the Tigers eventually will expect the same from Kelly after awarding him a 10-year guaranteed deal.

Kelly’s whopper contract buys him more time, but LSU fans grow impatient.

CFP BUBBLE: Texas A&M finds safety, LSU and Alabama in trouble

Is Texas A&M the real deal?

Its defense is, anyway.

Elko proved patience is for suckers. If your struggling coach tells you it takes a few years to turn the ship, you’ve got the wrong coach – particularly when the program houses Texas A&M’s caliber of talent.

The Aggies had a Jimbo Fisher problem these past few years. He’s gone, and, voilà, problem solved.

Elko made this look easy, but he deserves credit for establishing a culture that increased the Aggies’ mental and physical toughness.

The Aggies are 5-0 in the SEC for the first time. They stand alone atop the conference standings.

But, are they the biggest threat to Georgia winning the SEC?

I’m not convinced. When Texas and Texas A&M each fire their best fastball, I think the Longhorns sling a bit more heat. On the other hand, the Longhorns regressed the past two weeks, while the Aggies keep improving.

Texas A&M’s defense causes persistent trouble for opposing offensive lines. That defense is good enough to keep the Aggies in any game.

The Aggies' ceiling depends on their quarterbacks, and Elko must keep an open mind to juggling quarterbacks while he balances two players with differing strengths. Ride the hot hand, and play the matchups.

SAY WHAT?!: Mike Elko buries Jimbo Fisher after Texas A&M whacks LSU

What do poll voters have against Indiana?

The Hoosiers beat Washington 31-17 without their injured starting quarterback, a team ranked ahead of them lost, and still No. 13 Indiana (8-0) didn’t budge in the US LBM Coaches Poll.

Indiana dazzles on my eye test, so what gives?

Multiple factors are at play: Indiana’s strength of schedule hurts it. The Hoosiers haven’t played anyone currently ranked in the Top 25. But, they’ve also destroyed most of their foes, and it’s not as if No. 5 Miami has faced a gantlet.

So, what else is at play?

The name on the front of the jersey matters to pollsters. Maybe it shouldn’t, but it does.

I suspect voters who know Indiana’s bleak history keep waiting for the bottom to fall out, but this isn’t the Indiana of yesteryear, and these Hoosiers keep playing like a top-10 team.

If Indiana wins at Michigan State this week, the CFP selection committee will have a chance to do what poll voters refuse to do: Award the Hoosiers a ranking worthy of their performance.

Is Arkansas coach Sam Pittman off the hot seat?

The affable Pittman joked in the preseason about his No. 1 ranking on preseason hot-seat lists.

“I’m HOT,” he said with a smile in July.

He’s cooling off. He’s nearly safe.

Arkansas improved to 5-3 by thumping SEC doormat Mississippi State. Louisiana Tech remains on the schedule, plus rivals Ole Miss, Texas and Missouri.

If Arkansas splits its November games, Pittman should be in great shape. His contract triggers an automatic raise and one-year extension through the 2028 season if he reaches 7-5, showing how quickly a coach can go from hot seat to contract extension.

If Pittman goes 1-3 in November, he still might be OK. It helps that he's an improvement on predecessors Chad Morris and Bret Bielema.

Arkansas fans mostly find Pittman endearing, and, anyway, they’re fired up about the John Calipari hoops era. Pittman, at 6-6 or better, ought to slip unnoticed past the firing squad.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer. Subscribe to read all of his columns.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Brian Kelly stumbles, LSU coach's Notre Dame time worth reconsidering