GLENN GUILBEAU: Brian Kelly Goes Off On Question About Bad Offense, And He Was Right

GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

It was a fair question by talented, veteran WBRZ sports anchor Michael Cauble Saturday night after No. 3 LSU went to 3-0 and 1-0 in the SEC with an old-fashioned, 20-10 win over Florida, which was ranked No. 13 just a week ago Saturday.

An Old-Fashioned cocktail-deserving win, I might add.

So does this mean a certain AP poll voter will push Florida up another couple spots? … No. 3 LSU 20, Florida 10 in an Old School SEC game that Charles Alexander would’ve dominated:https://t.co/c365N70il8

— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) September 14, 2025

Because the Tigers lost the heart and soul of their defense on Florida’s third offensive play of the game when junior All-SEC linebacker Whit Weeks was ejected for targeting. And quarterback Garrett Nussmeier was a meager 3-of-8 passing for 29 yards in the first quarter. The running game wasn’t much either in the first period with 16 yards on six carries. And LSU had all of one first down.

But the Tigers found a way to win with what is looking like their best defense since 2011, with Brad Wing-type punting from that year as well via Grant Chadwick, and with Nussmeier and the running game eventually doing just enough and playing to their defense, much like the Clemson game.

By the way, LSU has held its first three opponents of a season to 10 points or below for the first time since 2007 when the Tigers won the national championship.

So, Kelly wasn’t in the mood to hear a surprise lead-off question following his opening about how much the offense struggled early. Particularly as the first question of a postgame press conference about a team that is 3-0 for the first time in six years with perhaps the best defense in the country just two years removed from the worst in school history.

And what followed was must-see youtube.

CAUBLE: “I know you love these media postgame sessions, but what can you see with your offense?” (A little snarky, here.)

KELLY: “STOP. Really, is that the first question? We won the game, 20-10. Try another question. What do you want me to tell you? I just laid it out for you. We played the game to win the game. (Kelly is channeling Herm Edwards from 2002 here.) We played the game to win the game.”

CAUBLE: “All right. How about third down (4-for-14, which isn’t terrible in this type of game) then? What is going on with third down?” (Here, Cauble sounds like a combination prosecuting attorney and fan in his living room.)

KELLY: “It’s one game. Last game, we were great on third down. You’re micro. You’re looking at this from the wrong perspective. LSU won the football game. Won the game. I don’t know what you want from me. What do you want? You want us to win 70-0 against Florida to keep you happy.”

CAUBLE: “No, I think they want to know why you can’t run the ball, quite honestly.” (A little too argumentative for a postgame press conference after a win by an undefeated team. This attitude would’ve fit better when, say, LSU was trying to say it didn’t know about A.J. Haulcy’s pending suspension or knew about it and was covering it up.)

KELLY: “We can run the ball. (LSU did rush for 96 yards on 25 carries for a 3.8-yard average with a 51-yard jaunt off guard by Caden Durham to ice the game late.) Did you see the last play of the game? That’s all you NEED! Those are ridiculous questions. And I’m getting tired of it. That football team just worked their tail off to get an SEC win, and you want to know what’s wrong. You know what? You’re spoiled. Give them some respect. How about that? Give them some respect instead of micro-analyzing every little thing. This is ridiculous. For a group of seasoned reporters, that kind of question is so out of line.”

Maybe a little too personal with the “spoiled” comment. But overall, what he said.

Then another questioner asked about Dashawn Spears’ two interceptions, including a 58-yard pick six for the 20-10 lead in the third quarter.

“THAT’S A GREAT QUESTION! Thank you,” Kelly said as laughter broke out. “You’re my favorite reporter now.”

Kelly tried to move on, but he returned to the question that aggravated him.

“I see it so differently than you guys,” he said, though only one reporter had this unique line of questioning for the situation. “You want to immediately attack it. I love what they did tonight. They found a way to win. If you guys don’t like that, I really don’t care. Because I’m so happy for those guys, because they’re in there singing, because they worked their tails off tonight. And that’s the point.”

And here comes his funniest quote of the night, and this guy Kelly is funny. He could take this on the road, especially if they win with good offense at Ole Miss in two weeks.

“I’m not trying to embarrass you,” Kelly said toward Cauble. “But it was a stupid question.”

Classic. In other words, “I’m not trying to say you’re a bad teammate, but you’re off the team.”

After the press conference, another reporter and I spoke to Kelly briefly, and he asked what we thought. I said the question on offense issues was a fair question, but considering what happened in the game and how LSU came back from Whit Weeks’ injury, it should’ve been question No. 10.

“I would’ve had no problem if it was question No. 10,” Kelly said.

And he was right again.

As I said after Kelly’s entertaining presser after the win over Louisiana Tech last week, this is going to be a fun season.