Brian Kelly and the LSU Tigers will look to fix what went wrong in New Orleans on Sunday night against Florida State. Kelly held his weekly press conference today at noon in the Lawton Room on LSU’s campus. Here were some of the key takeaways from today’s press conference:
On Maason Smith Being Out For the Season with a Torn ACL:
“We are crushed for him. He was celebrating for a teammate on the play. Any time you suffer an injury under those circumstances, it’s extremely disappointing. He’s a great player.”
On the Offensive Line:
“A lot of the issues are ‘OL awareness’ and making sure we are helping where help is needed. We have five guys battling. They need to know where their help is coming from. We lack the awareness, but we will get there and build it as the season goes on.”
Kelly on the Defensive Issues:
“We need to tackle better, we have to blitz better and we have to be on-body in coverage better. There is room for improvement in my coaching and our playing. We have to get better there.”
Kelly on Special Teams Issues:
“We made in-game changes on PAT, they didn’t work. It was my decision to stick with Malik Nabers after the first muffed punt. I wanted to stick with him to show I had confidence in him because he’s an elite athlete.”
On LSU’s Running Game:
“Obviously the running game will have to continue to grow. We’ve got to get all the pieces working together.”
His Thoughts on Jayden Daniels First Start for the Tigers:
“Early recognition needs to be better, but he competed well. His pocket presence was excellent. Kind of a mixed bag early on, but settled in as the game went on. That’s not good enough against good teams.”
On Facing Southern This Weekend:
“I’m excited and I know our players are.”
