At the end of Brian Kelly’s press conference, he iterated what every LSU fans’ frustrations were from Saturday night as LSU once again opened a season with a loss for the fifth year in a row.
“We’re sitting here again talking about the same things. We’re on the sidelines acting like the game is over. I am so angry about it. It is unacceptable to not have found a way to win this game.”
LSU Head Coach Brian Kelly
There were plenty of opportunities as LSU did play good enough at times to win the game, but simply could not finish when it mattered most. The Tigers did put themselves in position to win the game in the fourth quarter with a 17-13 lead because of some positive moments.
The Positives:
Garrett Nussmeier had efficient game in second start:
First, quarterback Garrett Nussmeier looked sharp and efficient in his second career start for the Tigers. He finished the game completing 29 of 38 passes for 304 yards and two touchdowns to one interception. The redshirt junior also spread the football to his teammates hitting 10 different wide receivers. He was decisive in his decision making and knew where to throw the football to his playmakers. Although there were plays that Nussmeier would take back, it was an encouraging sign that the passing game will once again be an efficient piece of the offense this season.
“Garrett did some good things. There were a couple that I think he would like to have back. Like any first game against a good opponent, he did enough for us to win the football game. When we needed a couple of plays, I think there are a couple of things that he would like to do better, but he is going to be good for us and he will get better from today.”
LSU Head Coach Brian Kelly
Kyren Lacy has officially taken over as WR1:
Garrett Nussmeier did spread the football out, but it was clear that Kyren Lacy was the number one target for this offense. It started with the first play of the season when Nussmeier hit Lacy for a first down conversion to start the game and it continued in the first half as the senior receiver had seven catches for 94 yards and a touchdown in the first 30 minutes alone. Now, there were some negatives from Lacy most notably the unsportsmanlike penalty after the catch and the fact that he was targeted only one time in the second half, but Lacy has proven to be more reliable as a pass catcher and it looks like he has made the next step as a SEC WR1 option.
Aaron Anderson and John Emery had surprising breakout performances:
With the number of offensive weapons on the football team including last night’s leading receivers Lacy and Mason Taylor, not a lot of people were expecting Aaron Anderson and John Emery Jr. to become X factors in the USC game, but they were two of the biggest bright spots for the offense. After a disappointing first season with the Tigers, Anderson had his best game of his LSU career with five catches for 64 yards and a touchdown to give the Tigers a 17-13 lead. He also made a clutch play that will go unnoticed in this game as he kept an offensive drive alive with a 41 yard catch late when the Tigers were trailing.
While Anderson was the biggest surprise in the passing game, John Emery Jr. was the biggest surprise in the running game as the sixth year senior gave the Tigers a spark late in the contest when he broke off a 39 yard run. The former five star from Destrehan ended up being the leading rusher of the game with 61 yards on 10 carries.
Saivion Jones builds off great fall camp with impressive defensive performance:
In my pregame article, Saivion Jones was my X factor for the game and he did end up being that type of playmaker defensively. The former St. James Wildcat looks like he is on pace to have a great senior season and came up big for the Tigers defense when he finished with five tackles, two sacks, and a pass breakup to force a turnover on downs in the fourth quarter.
The defense took a step forward after abysmal season in 2023:
What was an encouraging sign was even though the defense gave up a lot of yardage and plays, the defense was in position to make plays and held a highly explosive Lincoln Riley USC offense to only 27 points. In this day of age in college football, that is enough for teams to win games. The secondary had some bright moments. Ashton Stamps looks like the Tigers’ best option at cornerback and made some nice plays including when he never gave up on the play and made a PBU on Kyron Hudson to save a touchdown. It was also nice to see freshman PJ Woodland bounce back after committing a pass interference penalty, he stepped up and made a PBU as well when USC right back at him the following play. Jordan Allen made a nice play by reading a screen and almost picking it off the other way.
The defensive tackle play, which was concerning heading into the season, held its own and only gave up 69 yards on the ground. Gio Paez and Jacobian Guillory played well and the edges did a good job of putting pressure on USC QB Maddox Moss with Saivion Jones, Bradyn Swinson, and Paris Shand able to get pressure off the edge. Linebacker Whit Weeks was playing free and was flying over the field with six tackles and 1.5 TFLS.
Under defensive coordinator Blake Baker, LSU showed that they can be aggressive, but at the same time, can be in the picture and not give up the 80 yard wide open touchdown like last season. The defense is still not where they want to be, but it did make some strides for the opener.
“Our defensive tackle play was better. Our edge play was better. We tackled pretty good. We competed on the edge and we were competitive. I just think overall it’s connected better. We got to get better in some areas, but it’s a cohesive connected group. They played really hard and didn’t execute at the end as well as what we would have liked. That was probably it.”
LSU Head Coach Brian Kelly
While the positives gave the Tigers a chance to win, it was ultimately the negatives that unfortunately overshadowed the positives en route to LSU’s loss.
Negatives:
The offense’s inability to finish drives in the red zone:
LSU was able to move the football within the 20’s and finished with 421 total yards, but only came up with 20 points. The first drive of the game told the story about what kind of game it was going to be for LSU as the offense took over seven minutes of clock and marched down the field, but when it came down to converting inside the 20, the Tigers could not punch it in. Brian Kelly decided to go for it on fourth down on the opening drive, but ended up turning the ball over on downs. LSU also had a chance to take a late lead trailing 20-17, but failed to score and were forced to kick a field goal. USC’s defense did bend, but did not break as simply, the offense just could not produce in the red area leaving a lot more points potentially on the scoreboard.
“We had over 400 yards of total offense. We weren’t able to put the ball in the end zone when we needed to. This is much more about being a much better and efficient offense in the red zone than it is the failings and the inability to run. We ran the ball well enough to set up everything else that we needed to do. Our execution needs to get better, but we ran the ball well enough to win it. You can’t win the ball game when you don’t score touchdowns in the areas or come away with nothing from the three yard line.”
LSU Head Coach Brian Kelly
Lack of discipline from LSU leads to big plays from USC:
Another thing that frustrated Brian Kelly at the end of the game was the number of penalties the Tigers committed. LSU had 10 penalties for close to 100 yards and what is most concerning is that the penalties came from their most veteran players. Kyren Lacy had an inexcusable unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after his touchdown catch that led to a big kickoff return from Zachariah Branch, which ended up putting points on the board for USC. Major Burns also had an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the Tigers got a fourth down stop. In a rare occurrence, Will Campbell also made mistakes with two false start penalties. LSU kicked themselves in the foot with false start penalties, an offsides penalty that led to a USC touchdown, a couple of pass interference penalties, and finally, the last penalty, which was a targeting call by Jardin Gilbert that led to USC’s game winning touchdown.
“The thing that is most concerning to me are the personal fouls. The penalties are selfish. Both of them led to scores. They are undisciplined penalties. They effectively fall back on me. We take pride in running a disciplined program, but we clearly not have done a good enough job there because it impacted the game.”
LSU Head Coach Brian Kelly
LSU struggled to get its running game going:
Heading into the season, LSU’s offensive line was hyped to be the best group in the country and although they were elite in pass protection keeping Garrett Nussmeier’s jersey clean the whole night, this group simply could not take over the game on the ground game. John Emery Jr. did have a promising night, but LSU’s offensive line could not push around USC’s defensive front the way they thought they would. LSU ran for 117 yards in the contest, but only averaged 4.5 yards per carry. Kaleb Jackson could not break the next level as he finished with only 18 yards on five carries while Josh Williams had nine carries for 33 yards. One of the biggest advantages LSU would have is its ability to dominate the line of scrimmage and while it was not an awful night for the front five, it was underwhelming considering the expectations of the group all offseason long.
LSU’s overall play was inconsistent and did not play complementary football:
While all three phases of the game showed flashes, LSU could not play off each other. Every time the defense made a stop, the offense would not build upon the defense and vice versa. When the offense scored, special teams gave up a big return. The performance was choppy to say the least. Even though everybody expects mistakes to be made, there was not one time that LSU was able to take advantage of opportunities.
LSU’s killer mindset was non-existent when it mattered the most:
The elite programs always find ways to finish ball games, and LSU showed that right now that this is not an elite program. After a turnover on downs, LSU had an opportunity to seize control of the game with a potential long drive, but immediately went three and out when John Emery Jr. was stuffed on third down and short. LSU’s offense had two opportunities to build on their four point lead, but never did going three and out both times. After LSU’s defense went three and out, their defense gave up two touchdowns to USC. LSU played well enough to win, but they just simply could not make the plays that mattered most. USC was able to do that and it ended up being the difference.
Later this week, we will turn the page and shift our focus to LSU’s home opener against Nicholls State
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