There is just something about season openers right now for the LSU Tigers.
On Sunday evening in Las Vegas, Brian Kelly’s team lost their third straight opener under his control, and their fifth straight overall after a 27-20 defeat to the USC Trojans.
After the game, Kelly was not happy.
“I think it’s the first time since I’ve been here (LSU) that I’m pretty angry with our football team.”
Kelly had that to say after his team was outscored 14-3 in the fourth quarter. The Trojans got a couple of key stops and then went on an eight play, 75 yard game-winning touchdown drive.
In addition to the late struggles, Kelly was not pleased with the personal foul penalties. Kyren Lacy received an unsportsmanlike foul after his touchdown tied the game at seven in the second quarter. That was not the only one, as LSU was penalized 10 times for 99 yards on the night.
“But the thing that is most concerning to me are the personal fouls. The penalties that are selfish,” Kelly had to say, going on to point out that two of them led to scores.
Overall, LSU went back and forth with USC. Each time one team scored, the other answered throughout the contest. LSU finally took the lead late in the third quarter, but Kelly was not pleased with how his team reacted.
“It’s clear that when we get up in a game, we do not know how to handle ourselves. You’ve got to have a killer instinct in this game. You have got to put teams away. We had an opportunity to put this team away and we get complacent.”
Overall, there were certainly some things to move forward with. Garrett Nussmeier threw for just over 300 yards with a QBR of 88.1. Additionally, the new-look defense had some moments where they looked much improved over last year.
Still, Kelly felt it was the offense’s job to step up down the stretch.
“We put way too much pressure on our defense to be something that they are not ready to be,” Kelly said of not scoring on their last couple of possessions.
Overall, the Tigers will look to regroup when they return home to face the Nicholls Colonels on Saturday, September 7th. Kickoff is set for 6:30 and you can hear the action on ESPN 103.7 Lafayette 104.1 Lake Charles.