Brian Kelly criticizes table in press conference after game against USC | LSU Tigers head coach frustrated with team
Brian Kelly was not happy on Sunday evening after LSULoss for USC in Las Vegas. After months of wondering if the Tigers’ defense would improve, the offense sputtered in the season opener. Only 20 points for LSU, less than any point total from last season with Jayden Daniels run the show.
But Kelly’s team had opportunities to get on the scoreboard and maybe even beat USC. With the score 17-13 in the second half, there were two possessions where LSU could have taken a double-digit lead with touchdowns. Instead, there were two punts before USC finally scored a Müller Moos Touchdown throw to Ja’Kobi Lane.
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Kelly analyzed why LSU was unable to win the game, pointing to penalties that cornered the offense and poor performance in key moments.
“There’s a variety of situations,” Kelly said. “We had a couple of false start penalties. We started behind the chains a couple of times. Was that probably our best execution? One time we didn’t have a cut-off on the backside, we didn’t run the route properly. There were a number of different things and it was purely based on an inability to play at a high level when our best was needed on offense. We weren’t able to deliver.”
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Kelly’s immediate problem was that he was unable to score deep in the red zone. LSU got to the 15-yard line three times, but had to settle for a field goal twice and then lost the ball on one down – the very first possession of the game.
“When you get to the 15-yard line three times and score six points, you’re going to get revenge,” Kelly said. “We can talk about missed blocks and not executing and not doing and not doing — we missed a lot of points.”
“We went up and down the field, but when you don’t score points in the red zone, like we didn’t tonight, you lose a one-possession game like we did tonight.”
This is Kelly’s third consecutive season-opening loss at LSU and fourth overall for the team. The 0-1 start to the year is all too familiar and Kelly will have to play from behind right away.
The offensive measures should be reconsidered this week before Nicholls – something we didn’t expect to say about LSU at the start of the season.
