Brian Kelly forcefully slammed his left fist onto the conference table, nearly sending his water bottle tumbling over.
Following No. 13 LSU’s 27-20 loss to No. 23 USC on Sunday night, despite holding a four-point lead with just under six minutes remaining in their season opener, Kelly didn’t mince words about his frustrations.
“We had players give everything they had tonight, yet here we are again, discussing the same issues!” Kelly exclaimed, striking the table in frustration. “We failed to close out the game when we had our opponent on the ropes. Instead, we acted as if the game was already won.”
Kelly expressed that this was the first time in his tenure at LSU that he was genuinely “angry” at his team, citing a lack of “killer instinct.”
“I’m so infuriated by this that I need to take action. Clearly, I’m not doing a good enough job as a coach,” Kelly admitted. “I need to coach them better because it’s unacceptable that we didn’t find a way to win this game. It’s ridiculous. It’s insane.”
Despite amassing 421 yards of offense and controlling the time of possession by six minutes, Kelly’s team failed to capitalize. Their first drive covered 74 yards on 13 plays over seven minutes, yet it ended with zero points. Although they trailed for much of the first half, LSU managed to take the lead twice in the third quarter.
“Unfortunately, it’s evident that when we take the lead, we don’t know how to maintain our composure,” Kelly said. “You have to finish teams off. We had the chance to put this game away, but instead, we became complacent and made more mistakes when ahead, rather than sharpening our focus and developing a relentless, killer instinct. That’s disappointing.”
Kelly’s frustration was understandable. The Tigers were penalized 10 times for 99 yards, compared to USC’s six penalties. Several of these infractions occurred at critical moments, including a targeting penalty on LSU that positioned USC inside the red zone, allowing them to score the game-winning touchdown with eight seconds left.
But penalties weren’t the only issue. LSU’s ground game struggled significantly. Earlier in the week, LSU offensive lineman Will Campbell had confidently stated that the Tigers would run the ball against the Trojans.
“That’s not something we’re trying to keep quiet,” Campbell said on Tuesday. “I’m telling everyone right now. We’re going to run the football.”
By the end of the night, however, LSU had managed just 117 yards on the ground, forcing quarterback Garrett Nussmeier to carry the offense. Nussmeier came close, throwing for over 300 yards and two touchdowns, but after giving LSU the lead in the third quarter, the offense stalled, allowing USC’s revamped defense under coordinator D’Anton Lynn to keep the Trojans in the game with several key third-down stops.
“They had every right to be confident,” USC coach Lincoln Riley said of LSU’s offensive line. “But so did we. We just chose not to broadcast it in the media.”
Of the 13 third downs LSU faced, they converted only five into first downs. After scoring the go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter, LSU’s next four drives resulted in two punts, a field goal, and an interception by Nussmeier that sealed the defeat.
“To become the football team I envision, we must eliminate the careless mistakes,” Kelly concluded. “And we must learn to play together far more effectively.”