By Scott Salomon
Louisiana State University coach Brian Kelly needs to learn to keep his mouth shut before big games. Prior to the 45-24 blowout loss to Florida State. Kelly went on his radio show and said, “We’re gonna beat the heck out of Florida State.”
“We are going to beat the heck out of Florida State”. -Brian Kelly last week
— Saturday Down South (@SatDownSouth) September 4, 2023
As predicted earlier on this site, Kelly showed his true colors in leading the Tigers to the largest defeat as a ranked team in a season opener in the AP poll era.
Kelly also must have forgotten that he had a 3-9 recording in Associated Press Top 10 matchups. Now you can make it 3-10. Kelly also has missing from his resume a BCS playoff game win or a New Year’s Six bowl game win.
— Andrea Adelson (@aadelsonESPN) September 4, 2023
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“This is a total failure from a coaching standpoint and a player standpoint that we have to obviously address and we have to own,” Kelly said. “I know adversity is always going to strike at some time in this game, and this is our first real piece of adversity that we have to address. I’m confident our guys and our coaches will rally in the manner that they need to.”
The much-maligned LSU defense surrendered 494 yards of offense to the Seminoles and allowed Keon Coleman, the former Michigan State Spartan, to catch nine balls for 122 yards and three scores. FSU signal-caller Jordan Travis had an outstanding game as he went a very comfortable 23-of-31 for 342 yards and tossed four touchdowns.
Coleman was the number one receiver in the 2023 transfer portal and many schools were battling for his services.
Keon Coleman was asked what he was grateful for after tonight's 3-TD performance:
"Thankful for the opportunity and coach saying yes to me."
Norvell: "I'm grateful for you saying yes too." ? pic.twitter.com/g8A7K6vw1P
— Brett Nevitt (@brettpn) September 4, 2023
FSU’s Johnny Wilson added 104 yards on seven receptions, Florida State also rushed for 135 yards.
https://twitter.com/TSV__1/status/1698550325219848594
“The buck stops with me, and I’ve got to get our football team to understand and recognize that you’ve got to play this game for four quarters with a mentality,” Kelly said following the game. “We just did not, for some reason. We thought we were somebody else. We thought we were the two-time national champion Georgia Bulldogs or something. I don’t know what we thought, but we were mistaken.”
Kelly was very frustrated with the loss. He said that the Bayou Bengals have to look within themselves and figure out how they are going to continue with their season. They will obviously lose their No. 5 ranking in the AP poll. FSU will certainly move up from their No. 8 ranking.
“How do we handle this? Is this who we want to be, or do we look at this and say this isn’t the kind of football team we want to be,” Kelly said. “When you have those kinds of losses, they are disappointing, and in some instances, they are devastating losses, but it’s how you respond to them. They have a chance to respond to this very disappointing performance in the second half.
This seems to be a series of questions that Kelly asks himself more frequently after dropping big games.
“So the choices they will have to make will be ones that start tomorrow.”
Meanwhile Travis victimized the LSU secondary that was battling injuries and a suspension. He made big play after big play and despite the interception in the first half, he had a stellar performance.
Jordan Travis had himself a day vs. No. 5️⃣ LSU ? pic.twitter.com/L0bc0yUbFq
— ESPN (@espn) September 4, 2023
Kelly, however, made a few choices in the first half, that he would probably like back.
The Tigers failed on three fourth-down plays and had two turnovers in the red zone.
LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels was a respectable 22-of-37 for 347 yards and a score. He is also known for his running prowess and he ran for 64 yards, but could not get one yard on two different occasions with the Tigers inside the five that killed drives on fourth down.
To begin the game, the Tigers marched down the field and had first and goal at the 1- yard line. In four plays, the Tigers could not score and turned it over on downs. LSU saw first and goal again at the 1-yard line in the second quarter, but Daniels was sacked and the Seminoles took possession.
Kelly said that both of the fourth-down calls were “standard fourth-down calls and decisions.”
