Chip Kelly offers perspective, empathy to Louisiana

UCLA head coach Chip Kelly and the Bruins took on the No. 16 LSU Tigers on Saturday in the Rose Bowl Stadium, with Kelly seeking just his second nonconference win in four years at the helm of the program — and although UCLA was able to accomplish just that, Kelly offered a sense of perspective after the conclusion of the game.

Louisiana in the past week has suffered through the damage of Hurricane Ida, a Category 4 hurricane, which first made landfall on Aug. 29, the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Thus far, Ida has been the sixth-costliest hurricane on record — costing as estimated $50 billion in damages, and resulting in over 60 casualties.

“First off, the week that this teams gone through — LSU — with the hurricane and things like that,” Kelly said after the game, continuing, “Our thoughts and prayers are with everybody down there in Louisiana and what happened to them. Winning the game tonight is awesome for our team but there was some bigger things going on. And we understand that.”

As of Sunday morning, one week after Ida made landfall on the Gulf Coast, more than 630,000 residents of Louisiana were still without power in the state, and Energy Louisiana said some of the hardest hit areas may have to wait upwards of three weeks before its restored.

Kelly and the UCLA Bruins dipped into the fast, pass-happy offense he loves Saturday night. But the UCLA coach also relied heavily on the rushing attack. The Bruins racked up 223 yards on the ground, 183 of which came in the second half.

While the Bruins ended the game with a 38-27 victory, powered by touchdowns from running backs Zach Charbonnet and Brittain Brown, and three passing touchdowns from Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Kelly was quick to remind both his team and fanbase that there are bigger things than football. Especially now, in the wake of Hurricane Ida.

How LSU and Tulane were impacted by the storm

LSU and Tulane, two of the state’s five FBS programs, were forced to moved locations ahead of their Week 1 openers.

The Tigers relocated to Houston last weekend, where they went through practice and walk throughs for the matchup with UCLA, ahead of flying to Pasadena Thursday for the Saturday night showdown with UCLA.

The Oklahoma-Tulane game, which was scheduled to take place in New Orleans on Tulane’s campus Saturday, was instead moved to Norman, Oklahoma. The Sooners extended a heartwarming gesture when they announced the game would still be considered a home game for the Green Wave, so Tulane will receive the ticket proceeds from Saturday’s contest.