close
close

first Drop

Com TW NOw News 2024

Brian Kelly slams LSU for lack of discipline and killer instinct after loss to USC
news

Brian Kelly slams LSU for lack of discipline and killer instinct after loss to USC

Brian Kelly was as demonstrative a coach as you’ll ever see after LSU’s 27-20 loss to USC in Las Vegas on Sunday.

In the post-game press conference, Kelly told reporters that for the first time in his three-year tenure, he was angry with his football team, at one point hitting the podium in frustration and raising his voice to talk about penalties.

“We’re sitting here talking about the same things again,” Kelly said. “About not finishing when you have an opponent in a position to put them away. But what we do on the sideline is feel like the game is over. And I’m so angry about it that I have to do something about it. I’m not doing a good enough job as a coach.

“It’s unacceptable that we didn’t find a way to win this game. It’s ridiculous. It’s insane.”

Kelly said LSU wasn’t playing complementary football. When the offense got going, he felt the defense let go. When the defense stopped USC on fourth down midway through the fourth period, the offense went 3-and-out and gave the ball right back to the Trojans, who marched down the field to score a touchdown and gain momentum.

“But what concerns me the most are the personal fouls,” he said. “The penalties that are selfish. Both of them led to scores and they are undisciplined penalties. They really fall back on me. We pride ourselves on having a disciplined program, but we clearly didn’t do a good enough job. It affected the game.”

On the fourth-down stop, LSU defensive back Major Burns was penalized for removing his helmet on the field, causing LSU to lose 15 yards before gaining possession of the ball.

As USC took a 20-17 lead, LSU opened with a false start, with 1 of LSU’s 3 offensive lines in the game being called upon.

LSU was penalized twice for pass interference. Jardin Gilbert was also penalized for targeting a USC completion that turned a 20-yard pass into a 34-yard gain and put the Trojans on the LSU 13-yard line with 8 seconds left in the game.

“Ten (penalties) is too many,” Kelly said. “But two personal fouls that result in scores are unacceptable.”

When the Tigers watch the footage again, they feel like they let a game slip away, while they did so much to win it.

Kelly felt the Tigers were complacent after taking a 17-13 lead late in the third period. He said LSU’s offensive inability to finish drives that reached the end zone put too much pressure on the defense to be “something they’re not ready for.” He said LSU “doesn’t know how to handle ourselves” when it gets ahead in games, and that’s evident after the Week 1 loss.