LSU head coach Brian Kelly slammed his fist on the table following the Tigers’ Week 1 loss in complete frustration over another season-opening loss.
It was the same again this time. The inability to win on the first weekend of the season continues to haunt LSU after falling to the USC Trojans on Sunday.
The lack of creativity on offense in the second half, inappropriate penalties and inefficiency in the red zone ultimately plagued the Las Vegas program.
“For us to be the type of football team I want, we have to avoid the silly mistakes,” Kelly said. “We have to have the mindset that when an opponent is behind, we have to have that killer instinct and eventually we have to be able to play a lot better against each other.”
After the showdown at Allegiant Stadium, Kelly addressed the media.
Opening speech
“Overall, we didn’t play compliment football. We did some good things on offense, but we didn’t complement that on defense and vice versa. But what concerns me most are the personal fouls. The penalties that were selfish. Both of those resulted in points. They’re undisciplined penalties and they effectively reflect on me. We pride ourselves on having a disciplined program, but we clearly didn’t do a good enough job there because that affected the game.
“The other thing is, unfortunately, when we get ahead in a game, we don’t know how to behave. You have to have a killer instinct in the game. We had the chance to beat this team and when we’re ahead, we get complacent. We make mistakes.
“It’s disappointing. Those things annoy me and I need to do a better job of getting a handle on that with this group. We had guys who played hard and wanted to win and were prepared to do that, but those two things just get on my nerves. And they need to be fixed.”
Challenges in the offensive
“There are a lot of situations. We had a couple of false start penalties. We started behind the chain a couple of times. That was probably not our best execution. One time we didn’t cut off on the backside. We didn’t run a route properly. They were all based on us not being able to execute at a high level. When our best was needed on offense, we couldn’t deliver. When you’re inside the 15-yard line three times and you score six points, you’re going to have to pay for it. We left a lot of points up there.
Inefficiency in the red zone
“When you don’t score points in the red zone like we did tonight, you lose a game where you only have one possession. We put way too much pressure on our defense to be something they weren’t ready to be. We have weaknesses and they’re not going to go away overnight. Our offense had to get better because we needed to score on those possessions.”
Growth in the defense sector
“I thought our defensive play was a lot better. I thought our rim play was better. We tackled pretty well. We were competitive. Overall, it’s more connected. It’s a cohesive, connected group that plays hard. They played really, really hard. They didn’t play as well as we would have liked at the end, but that’s probably it.”
No hasty attack
“We could sit here and look at a million different things, but we had over 400 yards of total offense. We weren’t able to get the ball into the end zone when we really needed to. This is much more about being a much better and more efficient offense in the red zone than it is about the failures of not being able to run. We ran the ball well enough to set up the things we wanted to do. We ran the ball well enough to win this game, but you can’t win games when you can’t get away from the 3-yard line with anything.”
Penalties plague the Tigers
“I’ve already commented on the two personal foul penalties. They had an impact on the game and they came from veterans, guys who know better and are leaders. I have to look at myself and say I have to do better because they’re not getting the message. Those two penalties clearly had an impact on the game. We had a couple of false starts. 10 (penalties) is too many, let’s put it that way. But two personal foul penalties that allow goals is unacceptable.”
Angry after loss
“We had some guys tonight that worked their asses off, and we’re sitting here talking about the same things again, like not finishing when you have an opponent that’s capable of shutting them down. But what we’re doing on the sidelines is we feel like the game is over. I’m so angry about it, I have to do something about it. I’m not doing a good enough job as a coach. I have to coach them better because it’s unacceptable that we didn’t find a way to win this football game. It’s ridiculous. It’s crazy.”
LSU vs. USC: The early betting odds for Week 1
LSU approaches No. 1 recruiting class in America
Nick Saban calls LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier a “sleeper” ahead of the 2024 season
Follow Zack Nagy on Twitter: @znagy20 and LSU Tigers on SI: @LSUTigersSI for all coverage of the LSU program.
