ORLANDO, Fla. – Brian Kelly gave up his lifelong job security at Notre Dame for a brand new “Fay-Mily” at LSU for one main reason: To win a national championship. Swap the headaches of an independent private school in Indiana for all the gumbo and five-star linemen the state of Louisiana has to offer, and a coach as experienced as Kelly might think of building the next Alabama or Georgia. mouth watering.
That’s why Kelly sat at his postgame press conference late Sunday night looking like a poker player whose winnings had just been wiped out by a bad hand. Somehow his second LSU team, a preseason top-five pick with serious aspirations to compete well into January, had managed to get out of the building in the season opener, a 45-24 debacle against No. 8 Florida State to be thrown.
At halftime of the basketball game two years ago, allowing an ACC opponent 31 points in the second half was not part of the plan.
“We’re certainly not the football team I thought we were,” he said afterwards, later calling the game “a complete failure from a coaching and player perspective.”
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Many of us jumped on the LSU hype machine after Kelly arguably exceeded expectations in his first season by winning 10 games and an SEC West championship. This writer in particular called his squad the second-best team in the country a few months ago after Kelly got involved on the portal to strengthen the already experienced team.
In hindsight, perhaps we should have paused and remembered that two of LSU’s last three games in 2022 were a 15-point loss to Texas A&M, 5-7, and a 20-point loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship Game .
As Kelly and star quarterback Jayden Daniels described it, the Tigers themselves may have bought into the hype.
“For some reason we thought we were someone else — we were the two-time state champion Georgia Bulldogs or something,” Kelly said. “We were wrong.”
“I agree with him,” Daniels said. “We have outdone ourselves. We thought we would get out and it would be easy.”
It was anything but.
Granted, LSU actually led at halftime and could easily have been further ahead considering Daniels failed twice on fourth-down attempts in the red zone (the first came with a sack with the Tigers at the 1-yard line of the State of Florida). But even then, something felt off about the Tigers.
Much like last season, Daniels was forced to do pretty much everything himself. He accounted for 248 of LSU’s 293 yards in the first half. He delivered several highlight plays, but Florida State also gave him several devastating hits. It didn’t feel like a sustainable formula.
In fact, the Tigers’ largely non-existent rushing attack completely disappeared after halftime. With veteran John Emery Jr. and Notre Dame transfer Logan Diggs missing, LSU’s running backs amassed just 49 rushing yards in the entire game, including 35 on a run by Josh Williams in the first half. LSU had to fend off two of its first three possessions of the second half, the other ending in an interception by Daniels when top receiver Malik Nabers slipped.
Jayden Daniels had 15 rushing attempts for 64 yards against FSU. (Melina Myers/USA Today)
But the real five-alarm fire occurred on defense.
Florida State’s offense faltered in the first half, but it showed after halftime behind star QB Jordan Travis (23 of 31 passes, 342 yards, four touchdowns, one INT) and receiver Keon Coleman (nine catches, 122 yards and three touchdowns) a clinic) and Johnny Wilson (seven catches, 104 yards). After settling for a field goal on its first possession, FSU scored touchdowns on each of the next four, turning a one-time deficit of 17-14 into a stunning 45-17 lead. Three different Noles players – Coleman, running back Lawrance Toafili and tight end Jaheim Bell – broke receptions of over 40 yards.
LSU is supposed to be DBU. On Sunday it barely registered a PBU.
“I have to take responsibility for how we performed in the second half,” Kelly said. “It’s disappointing.”
Now for the necessary disclaimer that this was only the first game of the season: Teams are evolving. Sometimes they get better, sometimes they get worse. New players emerge or, in LSU’s case, key players return. In addition to Emery and Diggs, sorely missing was LSU star DT Maason Smith, who was serving a one-game NCAA suspension for signing an autograph before zero.
But what you don’t usually see is a team getting eliminated in the first game, turning around and winning the national championship. I can’t think of anyone who even came close.
Make no mistake – this was a colossal setback for Kelly. The only way for the Tigers to get into the College Football Playoff now is if they win the SEC Championship, and the only way to win the SEC Championship is to beat Alabama in November and most likely Georgia in December hit. Without a physical offensive line that can open holes for a running back, they won’t be able to do either. And Daniels might not even be available for these games if he gets beat up like he did on Sunday.
But Daniels is also the most important reason not to give up on LSU entirely. The fifth-year freshman is undoubtedly dynamic. He stormed across the open field on a 40-yard run, setting up LSU’s second touchdown. He completed 22 of 37 passes for 347 yards, including a late 75-yard downfield strike to Brian Thomas Jr. that finally stopped the bleeding. Daniels has a variety of proven targets in Nabers, Kyren Lacy and tight end Mason Taylor.
Kelly had the wrong half of his losses at Notre Dame – most infamously the 2012 national title game against Alabama and a 2018 CFP semifinal against Clemson. They reflected the recruiting gap he was never able to fully fill at these powerhouses.
They’re the reason he’s now at LSU, a program with three national championships this century and zero excuses for not attracting the most talented players in the country. There shouldn’t be a gap between a program like his and one like Florida State’s.
“We have at least 11 games left,” Kelly said, “and I’m telling you now: We’re going to be better.”
We will contact him again in November.
(Top photo: Julio Aguilar / Getty Images)