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Brian Kelly fires ruthless shot at Dabo Swinney after grading LSU, Clemson in Week 1

Untitled design (2)by: Sam Gillenwater18 hours agosamdg_33
LSU HC Brian Kelly
Ken Ruinard | USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

Dabo Swinney felt Clemson was really close to LSU as far as a grade goes coming out of their opening matchup. Brian Kelly, though, thinks he may not have paid as much attention to the assignment they turned in to him on Saturday night.

Kelly responded to Swinney’s comments, where he graded LSU as a 65 and Clemson as a 58 in his metaphor trying to show how neither team really played great this weekend, during his press conference on Monday. He felt Dabo’s scale might’ve been a bit off there, especially when it came to the second half of his team’s win.

“It was a hell of a game. It was a hell of a game. Down to the last play, right out of the gate,” Swinney said at his own press conference this morning. “It’s like getting a final exam, day one of class. They made a 65. We made a 58. Neither one of us were great.”

“Well, I mean, I thought we dominated them in the second half. So, he’s either a really good grader for, you know, giving himself a 58, or he’s a really hard grader on us – or he didn’t see the second half, which that might be the case,” Kelly has since responded. “He might not have wanted to see the second half.

“So, I don’t know if he’s a hard grader or an easy grader, but I like the way we played in the second half.”

If any teams aced their openers in week one, No. 9 LSU was among them with their 17-10 win over No. 4 Clemson. That already was the case considering any opening win would’ve been good for the Tigers, having not had one this decade since 2019. However, in a top-ten matchup on the road, LSU impressed in the one-score win, coming back from some first-half struggles to tie and take the lead in the second half by also shutting put the Tigers from there on.

On offense, QB Garrett Nussmeier, being 28-38 for 232 yards and a touchdown, and RB Caden Durham, with 17 carries for 74 yards and a touchdown, starred. Then, defensively, LSU improved overall in a way that was a big storyline, for them alone and nationally, of week one.

Kelly does think highly of Clemson too coming out of that opener, as both remained Top-10 teams per the release of the AP Poll this afternoon as they essentially switched spots with LSU up to No. 3 and Clemson down to No. 8. Still, LSU is on to their next game, with the only thing mattering to them being whatever their grade was ended up as better than their opponent’s this past weekend.

“Look, this is all, like, you know, past. We’re much more focused on Louisiana Tech, to be quite honest with you,” said Kelly. “Clemson is a darn good football team. I mean, that’s a really good, that’s a top-notch team and they’re going to be a team in the hunt for the playoff picture, and we hope we are too.”