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Brian Kelly speaks to narrative that the SEC is ‘down’ in 2023
By Ethan Stone
Published:
Brian Kelly and the LSU Tigers suffered a Week 1 loss to Florida State, which is currently sitting at the No. 4 spot in the latest AP rankings.
Many were ready to write the Tigers off following a dominant 2nd half from the Seminoles. Many more were (and still are) ready to claim the SEC is in a down year because of other non-conference failings across the conference, including Alabama’s loss to Texas in Week 2, South Carolina’s loss to North Carolina in Week 1 and so on.
At the SEC’s weekly teleconference Wednesday morning, Kelly spoke to that narrative, saying he is simply focused on LSU and that it’s just 1 game in a long season.
Here’s his full quote on the matter:
“I don’t get a chance to dive into it certainly in the manner that the fans would. But I get bits and pieces of it. Certainly the narrative is because LSU lost and Alabama lost that it’s down, but that’s 1 game, we’ve got a long season ahead of us. Georgia’s still the 2-time national champ in the SEC, so last I checked they were still undefeated. I just think that’s a news cycle kind of narrative, I just think you play the games and continue to do the things that you need to do and that changes the next week. Everybody was talking about how difficult it was at Florida, and look at how well they’re playing. So I just think that all the teams in this league are difficult to play against and I think we’re — each coach in this league respects the others, and I just think we’re all just focused on developing our own teams.”
After all, a loss to the No. 4 team in the country in Week 1 when players and coaches are still tweaking and learning about their team is hardly the end of the world.
And LSU had a strong bounce-back game in Week 3 against Mississippi State, dismantling the Bulldogs 41-14 in Starkville. They’ll look to dispatch another SEC West opponent Saturday when Arkansas comes to town.
Week 4’s matchup against the Razorbacks is set for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Ethan Stone is a Tennessee graduate and loves all things college football and college basketball. Firm believer in fouling while up 3.
