LSU Head Coach Brian Kelly didn’t mince words following last night’s embarrassing 45-24 loss to Florida State in their highly anticipated season opener.
The Tigers, who started the season ranked fifth in the nation, looked promising in the first half but fell apart in the second, allowing 31 unanswered points to the Seminoles.
“We certainly are not the football team I thought we were,” Kelly expressed in his postgame remarks. “We need to do a much better job developing our football team. We clearly were short in a lot of areas, and that falls on me.”
Brian Kelly’s Non-Existent Halftime Adjustments in Big Games is glaring and undeniable.
Florida State has outscored LSU 31-0 in the second half. THIRTY ONE TO ZERO. (Before the garbage time TD pass)
Unbelievable performance from FSU tonight, Norvell earned Big-Time Respect 🔥 pic.twitter.com/qK22Ah62qc
— College Football Report (@CFBRep) September 4, 2023
Kelly went on to express his team’s unrealistic expectations, saying: “For some reason, we thought we were somebody else than we were, the two-time national champion Georgia Bulldogs or something. I don’t know what we thought, but we were mistaken.”
The Tigers held a 17-14 lead going into halftime but struggled to maintain their momentum as the game progressed.
“I take full responsibility for not having our team playing the kind of football that I thought we would,” Kelly added, pointing out the Tigers’ overall lack of sharpness and urgency.
“This is a total failure on a coach’s standpoint and a player’s standpoint that we have to obviously address and we have to own.”
Damn. Brian Kelly out here predicting the future pic.twitter.com/686OCHc4IH
— Courtney McKinney (@CourtAnne1225) September 4, 2023
Sunday’s game, held at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, was a highly anticipated matchup between two top-10 teams, with significant playoff implications. Florida State entered the week as the eighth-ranked program in college football.
LSU had entered its second season under Kelly’s leadership with high expectations after posting a 10-4 record in 2022.
Quarterback Jayden Daniels, considered one of the nation’s top Heisman Trophy candidates before the season, finished the game with 347 passing yards, 64 rushing yards, and one touchdown.
However, he was outplayed by Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis, who accounted for five total touchdowns.
“Being the leader, the quarterback of the team, I’ve gotta get the guys going. I’ve gotta set the urgency, and I’ve gotta set the tempo,” Daniels acknowledged in his postgame comments.
The Tigers will look to bounce back in their upcoming game against Grambling State before facing Mississippi State in what has now become a pivotal early-season matchup.
What did you think about the game?
Does the outcome reflect more on LSU or Florida State?
Is this the year the Seminoles finally make another legitimate run at the national title?
LSU was doomed from the start in this era when Brian Kelly went with the fake southern accent, never ever forget pic.twitter.com/bHh0sX6EUh
— Alex Micheletti (@AlexMicheletti) September 4, 2023