Kelly: LSU’s collapse in opener ‘an overall failure’

Andrea Adelson, ESPN Senior WriterSep 4, 2023, 02:12 AM ET

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• ACC press reporter.
• Signed up with ESPN.com in 2010.
• Graduate of the University of Florida.ORLANDO, Fla.– LSU coach Brian Kelly said his team’s 45-24 loss to Florida State on Sunday night was”an overall failure,” after a second-half collapse allowed the Seminoles to run away with the game.The No. 5 Tigers had a 17-14 halftime lead but enabled No. 8 FSU to score 31 unanswered points in the second half. They had no answers for Noles quarterback Jordan Travis (342 lawns passing, 5 total goals )or pass receiver Keon Coleman(122 yards, three ratings). The loss marked LSU’s biggest defeat as a ranked team in a season opener in the AP poll era (since 1936).

  “This is a total failure from a coaching viewpoint and a player viewpoint that we have to undoubtedly resolve and

  we have to own,”Kelly stated. “I understand misfortune is constantly going to strike at some time in this game, and this is our first real piece of hardship that we need to resolve. I’m positive our guys and our coaches will rally in the manner that they require to. “Editor’s Picks 2 Related LSU had plenty of chances in the very first half to build a much bigger lead but wasted them. On the opening drive of the game, the Tigers had 4 attempts from the 1-yard line but failed to score on fourth down after quarterback Jayden Daniels was sacked. LSU had another opportunity in the 2nd quarter on fourth-and-goal from the 1, but Daniels was stopped again.Kelly said both were”standard fourth-down calls and choices.”Regardless of the failure to score from the 1, LSU acquired lawns in the very first half and led 17-14 at halftime. However after the break, Florida State imposed its will and started to subdue LSU up front.”The buck stops with me, and I have actually got to get our football team to understand and recognize that you have actually got to play this game for four quarters with a mindset,” Kelly said. “We just did not, for some reason. We believed we were someone else. We thought we were the two-time national champion Georgia Bulldogs or something. I don’t understand what we believed, but we were misinterpreted. “On Thursday, Kelly made headings when he said on his opening radio show of the season, “We’re gon na go beat the heck out of Florida State.”

  Whether those comments resonated in the Florida State locker space is unknown; both Coleman and Travis said they were uninformed of them when asked in their postgame news conference.What is clear is that Kelly requires to discover a method to get his group to play a total game.”How do we manage this? Is this who we want to be, or do we look at this and state this isn’t the type of football group we want to be, “Kelly said. “When you have those sort of losses, they are frustrating, and in some circumstances, they are devastating losses, but it’s how you react to them. They have an opportunity to respond to this extremely disappointing performance in the second half.”So the options they will need to make will be ones that start tomorrow.”