LAS VEGAS – Brian Kelly slammed his left fist on the press conference table so hard that his water bottle almost tipped over.
After No. 13 LSU held a four-point lead with just under six minutes left in its season opener and lost 27-20 to No. 23 USC, Kelly didn’t hold back when he talked about his frustration.
“We had some guys work their asses off tonight and we’re sitting here again, we’re sitting here again talking about the same things!” Kelly said, slamming the table. “About not finishing when you have an opponent that can knock you out. But what we do on the sidelines is we feel like the game is over.”
Kelly said this was the first time during his time at LSU that he was “angry” at his team, adding that they lacked the “killer instinct.”
“I’m so angry about this that I have to do something about it. I’m not doing a good enough job as a coach,” Kelly said. “I have to coach them better because it’s unacceptable that we didn’t find a way to win this football game. This is ridiculous. This is crazy.”
Despite totaling 421 yards of offense and controlling time of possession for six minutes, Kelly’s team was unable to capitalize. Their first drive of the game went 74 yards on 13 plays in over seven minutes but yielded zero points. Despite trailing for most of the first half, LSU was able to take the lead twice in the third quarter.
“Unfortunately, it’s clear that when we get ahead in a game, we don’t know how to behave,” Kelly said. “You have to shut down the opposition. We had the chance to shut down this team. We get complacent, we make more mistakes when we’re ahead instead of focusing better and having an iron killer instinct. It’s disappointing.”
To Kelly’s point, the Tigers were penalized 10 times for 99 yards, while the Trojans were penalized for six, and some of those penalties came at crucial moments. On USC’s game-winning drive, a passing penalty against LSU sent the Trojans into the red zone, where they promptly scored the winning goal with eight seconds left.
It wasn’t just the penalties that put LSU in a position where they were short. Their running game was also struggling. Earlier in the week, LSU offensive lineman Will Campbell said the Tigers would run the ball against the Trojans.
“This is not something we want to keep secret,” Campbell said Tuesday. “I’m telling everyone now. We’re going to run the football.”
By the end of the night, however, LSU had only rushed for 117 yards and had to rely on quarterback Garrett Nussmeier to bolster the offense. Nussmeier nearly made it, throwing for over 300 yards and two touchdowns, but after scoring the game-winning touchdown in the third quarter, LSU’s offense stalled, allowing the newly formed USC defense under defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn to keep the Trojans in the game with several key third-down stops.
“They had every reason to be confident,” Lincoln Riley said of LSU’s offensive line. “But so were we. We just didn’t talk about it in the media.”
Of the 13 third downs the Tigers faced, they were only able to get a first down five times. After scoring a touchdown to take the lead in the third quarter, LSU’s next four drives ended with two punts, a field goal and a Nussmeier interception that sealed the outcome.
“For us to become the kind of football team I want, we have to stop making the stupid mistakes,” Kelly said. “Ultimately, we have to be able to play against each other a lot better.”
