Brian Kelly trucked by referee vs. Clemson

Brian Kelly might be on the sidelines, but that didn’t save him from taking a massive hit during Saturday’s contest against Clemson. Cameras captured the LSU coach colliding with a referee who was backpedaling down the sideline, knocking Kelly to the ground.

The coach got up and said some to the official as he pointed in his direction. Thankfully, he didn’t look to be too hurt from the incident, save for maybe a little bit of embarrassment.

Brian Kelly got trucked we NEED a better angle 🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/vliY1Fc4Q9

— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) August 31, 2025

The play happened late in the fourth quarter with LSU clinging to a 17-10 lead. That would ultimately be the score it would go on to win by as it came up with the defensive stop on that drive and then forced Clemson to turn it over on downs when it got the ball for the final time.

LSU found itself trailing 10-3 at halftime before striking first in the third quarter on a two-yard run from Caden Durham. Things remained tied at 10 until the fourth, when Garrett Nussmeier found Trey’Dez Green for an eight-yard touchdown.

LSU was able to hang on from there to pull out a massive win against a top 10 foe. Brian Kelly couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season from his team, even if he did take a hit to get there.

Booger McFarland calls out Brian Kelly over late fourth-down attempt in first half vs. Clemson

Facing fourth-and-2 from the Clemson 12-yard line with 15 seconds to play in the first half, Kelly opted to go for it. The play didn’t work out, as a short pass to Chris Hilton Jr. wound up losing a yard.

Instead of going into the half trailing 10-6, LSU trailed 10-3. ESPN analyst Booger McFarland, a former LSU standout, wasn’t a fan of the call from Brian Kelly.

“I understand what LSU is trying to do to get the ball to the perimeter to their wide receivers, but it’s going into halftime,” McFarland said. “You want to keep the momentum. Your offense has been struggling. They put a drive together.

“Kick the field goal. Momentum is with you. Now you feel good about yourself going into halftime.”

Brian Kelly has proven aggressive in the past, and perhaps he feels a little bit of pressure in this one. LSU hasn’t won a season opener in the past five years, something that was thrown about in the team facilities quite a bit in the lead-in.

Ultimately, it ended up working out in the long run for Kelly and LSU. Thanks to a big defensive effort in the second half, they were able to come out with the win.

On3’s Thomas Goldkamp contributed to this report.