BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The sight of LSU coach Brian Kelly pounding a table following a season-opening loss to Southern California — and the sound of him saying his quarterback got “outplayed” — won’t soon be forgotten.
It remains to be seen whether those moments become symbolic of a course correction that leads to College Football Playoff contention, or a season of frustration on the bayou.
For his part, as LSU (0-1) prepared for its home opener on Saturday night against Nicholls State (0-1), Kelly sought to give additional context to his post-game comments. Essentially, the coach said he did not mean to sound as critical of his players — namely quarterback Garrett Nussmeier — as he may have seemed.
“Whatever my comments were,” Kelly said, “they were not intended in any way to disparage a guy that went 29 for 38 for 304 yards.”
Nussmeier, a first-year starter following the departure of Heisman Trophy-winner Jayden Daniels, expressed regret over a couple throws, particularly an errant pass intended for Aaron Anderson deep in USC territory in the fourth quarter. That miss came shortly before LSU settled for a tying field goal instead of a go-ahead touchdown.
But Nussmeier’s job also was complicated by teammates’ seemingly undisciplined mistakes, from unsportsmanlike fouls to pre-snap penalties, to a botched safety blitz on a fourth-quarter play that resulted in a USC touchdown pass.
Against Nicholls, LSU is expected to win without much trouble.
This game will be more about style points. Is execution clean? Are mental mistakes and flag-drawing emotional outbursts reined in?
If so, it would indicate that LSU has responded well to its first dose of adversity. But if the game is sloppy, or closer than anticipated, there will be questions about whether Kelly’s post-game fist-pounding last weekend did more to alienate players than get their attention.
Playing up
Nicholls State plays in the second-teir Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), but is considered a strong team at that level.
The Colonels won the Southland Conference last season and have some of their best players back.
They opened the season with a competitive 25-17 loss at Louisiana Tech, a mid-major at the top-tier Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level. Now it gets tougher with a visit to Death Valley and a power conference program.
It is also the first time Nicholls has ever played LSU.
“It’s exciting for community, exciting for the school,” Nicholls coach Tim Rebowe said. “We got to focus on us.
“Let’s show improvement from Week 1,” Rebowe added. “Let’s correct some of the things we know we can correct. Let’s control our effort — the things that we can do — and don’t get caught up in all the stuff around the stadium.”
Stadium centennial
With its home opener, LSU begins a season-long celebration of Tiger Stadium’s 100th year of hosting games just off the east bank of the Mississippi River.
One of America’s most storied and recognizable college football venues, Tiger Stadium first hosted college football on Thanksgiving Day in 1924.
In Year 100, the stadium known as “Death Valley” will debut $19.8 million in upgrades that have included new video, audio and LED lighting systems.
The stadium has grown over the years from field-level sideline stands with open ends behind each end zone. Over time, both end zones were enclosed, followed by the gradual addition of upper decks and suites on three sides, increasing capacity to about 102,000.
Ground games
LSU coaches and players entered the season expressing confidence in the Tigers’ ability to run the ball behind a big, powerful and experienced offensive line.
Beyond one 39-yard run by now injured John Emery Jr., that didn’t really happen against USC. LSU’s 25 other running plays combined for 78 yards.
“We have to be more efficient with our running game,” Kelly said. “What I want is, when it’s third down, and everybody knows you want to run it, let’s be creative in running the football, but let’s execute at a high level. And we didn’t execute at the level we’re capable of executing.”
And they will have to execute without Emery, who led them in rushing last week with 61 yards, but has since seen his season end with a torn ACL at practice this week.
Nicholls, meanwhile, relied heavily on its running game a season ago and is poised to do so again.
Top rushers Jaylon Spears and Collin Guggenheim combined for 1,550 yards rushing last season. Both have returned to run behind a line featuring senior center Evan Roussel, named a preseason FCS All-American.
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