Head coach Brian Kelly is mad at his LSU football team following Sunday night’s 27-20 loss to USC. Under Kelly, LSU has lost three straight season openers. The program has lost five consecutive season openers.
LSU looked like the better football team on the field for most of the night. But they couldn’t put the Trojans away in the second half. Up 17-13 in the third quarter, LSU punted twice before USC would take a 20-17 lead.
LSU would tie the score at 20 with 1:47 left in the game. But by that time, USC head coach Lincoln Riley and his quarterback Miller Moss had figured out the Tigers’ defense. They promptly drove down the field in eight plays and scored a touchdown with eight seconds remaining in the game.
Brian Kelly called out LSU’s quarterback
LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier threw an interception to end the Tigers’ chances of a miracle comeback.
Kelly had an emotional outburst during his post-game press conference.
Per Brian Holland with NBC 33, Kelly credited Moss for playing better than “our quarterback,” choosing not to use Nussmeier’s name.
Moss went 27/36 passing for 378 yards and a touchdown. Nussmeier went 29/38 passing for 304 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception.
Kelly is upset with the LSU football team
Kelly went on to say he was upset with the team.
“It’s the first time since I’ve been here (at LSU) that I’m angry at my football team,” said Kelly, via Stewart Mandel of The Athletic.
Kelly wants his players to have a killer instinct where they want to put their opponents away. Kelly blamed his players for not finishing against USC and said he needed to find a way to better prepare the team.
“We had some guys play their butts off tonight and we’re sitting here again, we’re sitting here again talking about the same things, about not finishing when you have an opponent in a position to put them away,” Kelly said, via video posted by The Bengal Tiger. “But what we’re doing on the sideline is feeling like the game is over. I’m so angry about it that I’ve got to do something about it. I’m not doing a good enough job as a coach.”
Does Brian Kelly have a culture problem at LSU?
After three offseasons at LSU, the problem is baked into the culture Kelly created. Kelly had similar issues with parts of his tenure at Notre Dame.
Kelly will have to be careful not to lose the locker room after his comments. While it’s important to note that he did take responsibility for not doing enough as a coach, it was clear he was blaming his players for the loss on Sunday night.
How will his players respond?
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