GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
LSU coach Brian Kelly sounded like he needed an open date this week to get over a frustrating, 24-19 loss at Ole Miss on Saturday.
“Everybody’s angry. I’m angry. I’m angry at myself for not having the details in this game that we needed,” Kelly said on the Paul Finebaum Show on the SEC Network, where he is a usual Monday guest.
“And that starts with us coaching,” he said. “That’s start with teaching, preparing your football team. And then, at the end of the day, your players have to be disciplined and execute. There are a lot of disappointment in the way we prepared our team, and I take full responsibility for that.”
No. 13 LSU (4-1, 1-1 SEC) took a 7-0 lead at now No. 4 Ole Miss (5-0, 3-0 SEC) in the first quarter and had chances to build on that lead to 14-3, but trailed 17-7 at halftime. The Tigers drew within 17-13 in the third quarter and within 24-19 at the five-minute mark of the fourth quarter with their best drive of the game for a touchdown.
After LSU defense’s fold in late innings at Ole Miss Saturday, LSU DC Blake Baker should have to return his national champion @LSUbaseball hat. Column:https://t.co/jKPmcbB5mS
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) September 29, 2025
But even after resting on te sidelines during a 15-play, 80-yard drive by LSU’s offense that took nearly six minutes to get within 24-19, LSU’s much ballyhooed defense never made another stop, and Ole Miss kept the ball for the remainder of the game.
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Finebaum asked Kelly if there is something, in particular, he was angry about that he and his staff did or didn’t do.
“Yeah, I felt like our football team had the personnel to win that game, and we did not at any time play complementary football,” Kelly said. “Our defense was on the field for 50 plays in the first half against 24 for our offense, and that just can’t happen. You can’t have a one-sided display like that. Our offense has been ineffective in terms of its consistency. We’ve had bits and pieces that have looked well, but we haven’t been able to put together that consistent performance.”
LSU was outgained 480 yards to 254 at Ole Miss and rushed for just 57 yards on 22 carries.
“As you get to the second half, your defense is exposed from being on the field that long,” Kelly continued. “Certainly kept the points down, but as our offense was starting to get in sync, our defense had been exposed too long.”
Kelly was more critical of his defense after the game Saturday.
LSU drops to No. 13 in AP poll.https://t.co/nWwQ0hV8od
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) September 28, 2025
“We just didn’t execute at the level we’ve been executing defensvely in the second half,” he said. “And we were starting to move and get some rhythm on offense. And now, we’re not having that same rhythm on defense. We had them in situations, and we let ’em out. We had them backed up.”
Kelly told Finebaum that the main problem was inconsistency on offense. The Tigers are 88th in the nation in total offense with 364 yards a game.
Finebaum, strangely, didn’t ask Kelly about Nussmeier’s health concerning his abdomen injury as Nussmeier again misfired on several passes, though he improved as the game went on. Finebaum did ask if LSU missed starting running back Caden Durham, who sat out the game with an ankle injury. He is expected to play in the Tigers’ next game against South Carolina (3-1, 1-2 SEC) on Oct. 11.
BRIAN KELLY: “I DIDN’T LIKE OUR (GAME) PLAN”
“It wasn’t one person. It wasn’t Caden Durham. It wasn’t Garrett Nussmeier,” Kelly said. “It was a collection of things. I’ll go back to our preparation. I didn’t like our plan. And that falls on us. That can’t happen. We’ve got to be prepared for everything and put our players in a position to succeed. It falls on all of us to take a good look in the mirror and find out why we came up short in this game. We came up short because our preparation wasn’t exactly what it needed to be.
“And then when we needed to make those plays – get off the field on third down or catch a deep ball – we didn’t make those plays. We were 1-for-7 on deep balls. So, it’s on coaches. It’s on players. We simply need to be more effective.”
Kelly pointed to poor in-game adjustments by himself and his staff as well, particularly defensive coordinator Blake Baker.
“As coaches, we have to do a great job of teaching all of the unique experiences that might happen during a game,” he said. “Look, you were expecting four-down, cover eight, you got three down, and two inverted. You didn’t get a lot of pressures (no sacks by LSU). We’ve got to adjust to those things. As coaches, we’ve got to be better. Our players have to adapt in game as well. They have to recognize how this game is going.”
Kelly was still living the game two days later.
“I guess that’s why I’m angry again today,” he said. “I haven’t been able to get it out, because I feel like in my career, those are games that are winnable. And I’ve got to do a better job as the head coach.”
The little things are the big thing.
“Our practices, our teaching, our meetings have to be so much more detailed in the specifics of how to do our jobs on a play-to-play basis,” he said. “We haven’t been detailed enough, particularly on offense.”
Kelly next meets with local media on Wednesday.
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