WATCH: Brian Kelly gets heated at presser after LSU beats Florida

No. 3 LSU moved to 3-0 in the SEC opener with a 20-10 win over Florida on Saturday night in Death Valley.

When LSU head coach Brian Kelly took the podium after the press conference, his opening statement centered around his view of how the four quarters unfolded on a night when the defense intercepted Florida quarterback DJ Lagway five times, while the offense scored just one touchdown.

“Sometimes, I think, as fans, you have to understand that there are ways to lose that game if you aren’t smart,” Kelly said. “I thought we were very smart in the way we managed the game, and managing it was for the outcome we got. That was winning the football game in the SEC. This is a journey. This is a long time. Do we want to clean up things? Absolutely. But, holding (Florida) to 10 points with talented players on that side of the ball, and then finding a way to win the game, I’m really proud of our group.”

When Kelly was asked “what he’s seeing from the offense” on the first question from local media, Kelly made his thoughts crystal clear.

“Stop. Really? Is that the first question?” Kelly said. “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. We played the game to win the game.”

When a follow up question came on LSU’s offense going 4-for-14 on third down attempts, Kelly – once more – stood behind his team’s win.

“It’s one game,” Kelly said. “Last game, we were good on third down.

“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?”

On the reporter’s second follow up to the initial question on the offensive struggles: “I think people want to know why you can’t run the ball, honestly.”

Kelly’s response? Spoiler: once more, he backed his team after a 20-10 SEC win.

“We can run the ball,” Kelly said. “Did you see the last play of the game,” referencing running back Caden Durham’s 51-yard run to seal the double-digit win in the final minutes.

“That’s all you need. You just need one. 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 … you’re spoiled. This team is 17-1 at night. 17-1. 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.”

LSU’s defense allowed just 10 points, and returned an interception for a touchdown, just two weeks after holding Clemson to 10 points. In wins over Florida and Clemson, the Tigers allowed zero points after halftime.

And, the Tigers did it after losing starting linebacker Whit Weeks on the third defensive snap to targeting, then later losing the team’s other starting linebacker, West Weeks, to an injury in the second half.

In the place of the Weeks brothers at linebacker: a trio of young backups that included true freshman Zach Weeks, the younger brother of Whit and West.

“We played Ty Singleton. How many snaps has he had? Maybe three. He’s had three snaps all year, and the kid came in the game and was playing. Davhon Keys had to play the whole game. Zach Weeks, he doesn’t even know where the COX Center is for academic support, and he went out there and flew around.

“I see it so differently than you guys. 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. I am so happy for those guys, because they are in there singing (in the locker room) because they worked their tails off tonight.”