LAS VEGAS — For many coaches, Week 1 is about shaking off the rust, seeing some younger guys get their first sport reps and hopefully caring for enterprise to begin 1-0.
For LSU’s Brian Kelly, alternatively, Week 1 has turn out to be an annual existential disaster.
Late Sunday evening at Allegiant Stadium, Kelly fielded questions from the media following his third consecutive season-opening neutral-site loss, this one a last-second 27-20 heartbreaker to No. 23 USC. It didn’t take lengthy for him to let the assembled room understand how offended he was with the consequence.
Actually, his very first phrases have been, “That is the primary time since I’ve been right here (at LSU) that I’m offended at my soccer staff.” He went on to quote a pair of expensive late-game unsportsmanlike penalties by his gamers and the Tigers’ lack of ability to shut out the sport.
A couple of minutes later whereas answering a follow-up query, Kelly pounded his first on the desk, stunning a number of sleepy-eyed sportswriters again to peak alertness as his voice rose abruptly.
“We’re sitting right here AGAIN, speaking about the identical issues, about not ending when you’ve gotten an opponent able to place ’em away,” Kelly mentioned. “What we’re doing on the sideline is feeling like the sport is over. And I’m so offended about it, that I’ve received to do one thing about it. I’m not doing a adequate job as a coach. I’ve received to teach them higher, as a result of it’s unacceptable for us to not have discovered a method to win this soccer sport.
“It’s ridiculous.”
To repeat: This was after the primary sport of the season.
Kelly’s staff truly performed pretty effectively Sunday evening. This was not the disastrous 2022 Florida State sport in New Orleans, Kelly’s LSU debut, when the Tigers dedicated each particular groups snafu conceivable and misplaced 24-23 on a blocked further level. Nor was this the ugly 2023 rematch with FSU in Orlando, when the Noles ran away within the second half of a 45-24 rout.
This was a down-to-the-wire barnburner between two groups looking for themselves after dropping their respective Heisman-winning quarterbacks (USC’s Caleb Williams and LSU’s Jayden Daniels). Lincoln Riley’s Trojans confirmed off a much-improved protection, one that truly wraps up ball carriers and limits explosive performs. Kelly’s protection, itself a trainwreck for many of final season, allowed a not-great 7.5 yards per play however was improved sufficient for the Tigers to carry a 17-13 lead late into the fourth quarter.
Then the dam broke.
After stopping a USC fourth down in LSU territory with 8:38 left, LSU security Main Burns dedicated a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that backed up the Tigers to their very own 21. Kelly might be seen having a protracted speak with Burns on the sideline afterward. LSU went three-and-out and punted again to USC. Three performs later, Trojans quarterback Miller Moss threw a wonderful 28-yard landing cross to Ja’Kobi Lane to place USC up 20-17 with 5:44 left.
Tigers quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, who completed 29 of 38 for 304 yards, led his staff from its personal 20 to the USC 14 however missed a wide-open Aaron Anderson for what would have been at the least one other first down. The Tigers settled for a game-tying 31-yard discipline purpose with 1:47 left.
You seemingly understand how issues ended.
USC appeared content material to accept a game-winning discipline purpose attempt till Moss discovered receiver Kyron Hudson for a spectacular 20-yard catch down the sideline, which, coupled with a focusing on name on LSU’s Jardin Gilbert, took the Trojans right down to the LSU 13 with 18 seconds left.
At which level USC tailback Woody Marks took a handoff up the center for the successful rating, and Kelly received that acquainted scrunched-up expression on his face that at all times looks like half-bewilderment, half-resignation.
yearly tweet pic.twitter.com/5qCSxnHTAa
— no context school soccer (@nocontextcfb) September 2, 2024
“It’s clear that once we stand up in a sport, we have no idea how you can deal with ourselves,” Kelly mentioned afterward. “You’ve received to have that killer intuition on this sport. You’ve received to place groups away. We had a possibility to place this staff away, and we received complacent.”
Usually in these moments, the coach reminds us it’s a protracted season forward, they’ve received loads of time to repair their points, and many others., and many others. Having heard none of that from Kelly, I really feel compelled to personally remind LSU’s coach: Hey man, it’s a protracted season forward. You’ve received loads of time to repair these points. Don’t freak out an excessive amount of.
Sadly, he already did.
“To be the sort of soccer staff I need, we’ve to get rid of the silly errors,” he mentioned. “We now have to have a mindset of, when we’ve an opponent down, have that killer intuition. And we’ve to play off one another significantly better.”
Did we point out his staff has solely performed one sport?
GO DEEPER
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Kelly made an attention-grabbing remark whereas lamenting that the Tigers didn’t play complementary soccer. He mentioned, “We put method an excessive amount of strain on our protection to be one thing that they’re not able to be. They battled, however we’ve warts, and so they’re not going away in a single day.”
It introduced again reminiscences of Kelly’s surprisingly candid feedback after the spring switch portal closed with out LSU including any defensive tackles as many anticipated. “We’re not available in the market of shopping for gamers,” Kelly advised WAFB-TV, which sounded to some like a preemptive excuse if the Tigers’ protection, which completed 109th within the FBS final season, wasn’t markedly higher.
His remarks Sunday evening felt as if he was pleasantly shocked mentioned protection held a Lincoln Riley offense, with Moss and ridiculous receivers Zachariah Department, Hudson and Lane, to “solely” three touchdowns, but that also wasn’t sufficient.
“I believed our protection took a step ahead from final yr,” he mentioned. “However we’ve to assist them out as effectively. We will’t be three-and-out after which put them again on the sector.”
This second occurred in 2024, but it surely might have simply as simply been 2014, or virtually any yr since. Kelly has received at the least 10 video games in every of the previous seven seasons as head coach (5 with the Irish, two with LSU), but these big-game letdowns really feel much less like exceptions and extra just like the norm.
Notre Dame followers largely made peace with it as a result of the Irish hadn’t loved even that degree of success in a long time. LSU, alternatively, has seen its previous three coaches win nationwide championships (and it nonetheless fired the previous two). Tigers followers, which took over Las Vegas solely to be let down once more, won’t exhibit comparable persistence if this continues.
No fist-pounding or robust phrases will reassure them.
(Photograph: Candice Ward / Getty Photos)