Brian Kelly shares initial reaction to LSU’s disappointing loss to Ole Miss
By Mark Kern
Published:
Brian Kelly and LSU suffered their first loss of the season on Saturday, as the Tigers fell 24-19 to the Ole Miss Rebels. It was a competitive game, but the Tigers just weren’t able to make the big plays when they needed to.
Kelly has had his fair share of intense exchanges with the media, but he had a different tune on Saturday night after the game.
“Disappointed in the loss, certainly,” Kelly said in his opening statement. “There is a game within the game. You start with the first half, where our inability to sustain anything on the offensive side of the ball put our defense on the field for 50 plays.
“At the end of the day, when you put it all together for four quarters, we didn’t play complementary football, which you have to do in this league. You have to be able to complement your offense and defense. When our offense started to move the ball, our defense couldn’t get the stop.”
LSU was a trendy pick in the off-season to make it to the College Football Playoff, in large part because of its offense. However, it has been the defense that has been carrying the load for the team.
This was the first game where the defense struggled, as the Rebels had 480 yards of total offense. Despite that though, the Tigers gave up only 24 points, which should be enough for an offense this talented to win a game.
Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier has not had the season many thought he would, and he had only 197 passing yards in the loss.
The Tigers even with this loss still have everything in front of them in terms of winning the SEC and making it to the CFP. However, for the Tigers to reach their goals, Kelly says the team has to put it all together.
“This team has to click on all cylinders,” Kelly said. “I believe in this team and I love this group. They are really good football players, and we have to get them complementing each other on a daily basis.”
