Everything Brian Kelly said after LSU's win over South Carolina

LSU head coach Brian Kelly spoke to the media after the Tigers’ 20-10 victory over the South Carolina Gamecocks.

Here is everything he had to say:

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Opening Statement

All set? Alright, let’s fire away. I know you guys have tons of questions, so we’ll do that. We won the game. That was a good thing. Winning games is a good thing.

Coach, despite the uneven performance on offense, how big was the last drive to salt away the game?

“Yeah, I mean, look. We all watched the game. I was pleased with some things that we did that we have not been doing. We ran the ball with more effectiveness and got the ball to Trey’Dez Green. I was pleased about that.”

“But, certainly, you can’t get down on the one-yard line three times and come up with three points. And I think we all know that. But what I loved was our compete. I loved the way our guys competed for four quarters; our fans stayed in there with us. Look, it is what it is. Find a way to win, and tonight we found a way to win, even though we had some mistakes out there that could, at some time, be catastrophic, and we’re going to have to eliminate them. But, the bottom line is, I’m glad the way the kids competed today.”

Just continuing competition, talk about, I guess, the defense being able to stay with LaNorris Sellers for the majority of the game. Is that pretty much what you expected?

“Yeah, we needed to, and I think I said this, maybe on Thursday’s press conference, when we get to him, we’ve got to make sure he feels us. And, obviously,  he’s an extraordinary athlete, and we missed a lot of tackles where if we run our feet and do the things we’re supposed to do, we probably tag him more. But he felt us today. You know, he felt our football team, he felt our defense. And, uh, we made it tough for him. You know, we made it a physical game where he was uh clearly um you know, uh we got after him and he did some really good things as well, but at the end of the day, we kept him to 10 points and um I think that that’s what we were hoping for.

(Garrett) Nussmeier’s aggression in this game just didn’t rip the ball downfield like he didn’t hesitate, like he wasn’t thinking that much, just really playing. Is that what you saw?

“Yeah, I thought he was a lot more aggressive. I thought um, you know, he had that kind of demeanor that you’re looking for in your quarterback. We want to clean up some things, obviously the mishandled snaps and you know we can’t turn the ball over down there. But look he’s he’s competing his tail off for us, and so we’re not perfect. You know, we’re a work in progress. We’ll have to be better next week, but again, I kind of look at it as we know where our issues are. They’re not hidden. Like, we got to clean up some, we can’t give up a 75-yard run, right?

You know, we’ve got to fit that the right way. We’ve got to be in a better position, obviously, on some of the things that we did in terms of the running game. But, bottom line is againstan SEC opponent, we held them to 10 points and, really, except for our own mistakes, we controlled the flow of the game.

Just to kind of build on that a little bit, first quarter there, you guys are driving, looking like you’re going to go up 10 nothing, and then they get the fumble and the big long run, but you follow it up with the touchdown drive to really kind of take control back What did you think about that sequence and how your guys were able to respond?

“I think that’s exactly what I was talking about. I didn’t think that there was any time where, even though we made mistakes, you know, you can you can begin to question yourself and your confidence, but they kept playing, and I told him that., I said, ‘Listen, we got plenty of time to go over the things that we got to correct on Monday. Everybody’s going to remind you about them anyway. Um, so I’m not going to do that right now.”

“All I’m going to comment on is I love the way you competed. You kept playing regardless of what happened.’ And there were some things that were catastrophic, if you will. You know, fumbling on the goal line, giving up a 75-yard run. Those are catastrophic mistakes, but they overcame them, and they kept playing. That’s a great thing. I’m going to build off of that, and we’re going to clean up the other things.”

Coach, the words building off of, you guys obviously had the turnovers, but the way your offense was able to move the ball, how much of that has been a good sign for getting this offense going in the right direction?

“It’s a better sign. There’s no doubt. Um, again, I think if we were much more efficient in the red zone, um, certainly if we took care of the football, there were some things that we just have to clean up that are, they’re very fixable. And if we fix those things, this offense can play to the level of its defense. And that’s what we need to get to. If we can get both groups playing to that same level consistently. We had some really good moments there offensively, but not consistent enough, and that’s what we’ll go back to work on.”

Was there a point in the game, I don’t know, what your expectations were coming in,

“Winning.”

But was there a point when you said, “Okay, this is going to be ugly. Let’s just get out of it with a win.” Was a a point in the game?

“Um, well, it was pretty clear that we made some mistakes. Um, what was most important for me was to keep the guys up on the sideline positive. You know, whether we didn’t hook up on a play down the field, or we put the ball on the ground, or threw a pick. It was look, put that behind you, get to the next play. And so, really was a lot of management on the sideline, so we didn’t have guys, you know, feeling sorry for themselves, and they didn’t. That’s why I’m pretty excited, right, that they just kept fighting and kept playing and we’ll work hard on cleaning up those errors.”

A big addition with a healthy Trey’Dez Green. What do you see from him?

“Uh, he’s pretty good at football. I don’t know about the basketball thing. I’ll let Matt (McMahon) decide that, but clearly, he’s a mismatch, right? Uh, you know, you can throw fade balls to him. He can catch the ball, uh, in quick game. Uh, he’s just a unique talent, and we need to continue to feature him in our offense. He’s got to be part of it.”

The commitment to the run game. You guys average five and a half per touch, I guess, and were able to break a couple of big ones. How big is Caden (Durham) being in that mix kind of makes that?

“Yeah, I think he was helpful. Obviously, Ju’Juan (Johnson) had the big run, you know, down the sideline. I just think that we were a little bit more uh deliberate in some of the plays. We were getting a wide nine to the field with six, (Dylan) Stewart, who’s an elite pass rusher, who made it difficult, but it opened up some running lanes for us. So, we were able to take advantage of those things. Um, you know, if there was anything that we could do differently, it would just be cleaner with our short yardage run game.”

Hey, coach, you mentioned the fight of this team. Garrett went down right before the second half. For him to come back after (Tamarcus) Cooley’s interception. What do you say about him fighting through the rest of the game?

“Yeah, again, you guys are answering, you know, the same things that I was answering in my own mind. Like, look, you know, we could feel sorry for ourselves. You know, we got guys banged up. We, you know, we lost three–two defensive ends in the game. You know, (Jimari) Butler was out. Um, and uh, who else was out? Oh, no, it was (Bernard) Gooden. And we were down some guys, and they just kept battling. That’s what uh I’m I’m proud of those guys and they just kept fighting and came out with a victory.”

On the goal interception. Is that just an RPO that Garrett decides to keep, and just wasn’t the right decision there? Like, could you sort of explain that play a little bit?

“Uh, it’s an RPO. Uh, and he’s responsible for the safety who picked it off. (Does) that answer it? Without laying any blame, it’s a bad call.”

I guess with Nuss, is there anything that you like to see him, you know, improve upon?

“Yeah, I want him to take care of our short yardage running game. We had two fumble snaps out of a direct snap. We’ve got to be able to be clean there. I don’t want to take a timeout in that situation when, you know, we have a particular play on. He knows what they are, and he’s going to work at them. And now that we’ve got him over the hump in terms of throwing the football, you know, we’ll clean up some of the little things that are required. We got away with some of those things today. We’re not going to get away with them later. Um, and he knows that, and he’ll be better because of it.”

(Question indiscernible)

“Yeah, we had troubles with both snaps, uh, on the goal line. Yeah.”:

Halfway through the season, only lost one game. Do you feel are you excited about the potential of the team if the offense cleans up these handful of mistakes and starts scoring points with the potential of the team?

“Absolutely. I mean, I think we saw the bits and pieces that we were looking for. Now, we got to put it together. It’s not good enough to say, ‘Hey, we’ve arrived.’ We certainly have not. And we’ve got to do some things better on defense as well. You know, some coverage things, some uh some fits. Um, but LaNorris Sellers is a difficult guy to corral. But we have to be cleaner in the scoring zone. You know, as I mentioned, Josh, three times inside the five to come up with three. Those things are catastrophic. So, we got to clean those up. We cleaned those up. We’re moving in the right direction.

You mentioned a couple of the guys who went out. Is there any update on Jimari or Bernard?

“No, they were they were sent for imaging. So, we’ll have a better feel for those guys probably Monday.”

From your point of view, could you noticeably tell Garrett’s arm was better, sharper?

“Yeah. Oh, yeah. No doubt. No doubt. I mean, and we knew that going into the game because, you know, we track the football with a GPS, and uh, his numbers were up. So, we felt really good about that. Look, we’re going to he’s going to get better. You know, he’s healthy now and feeling good. You know, he’s got a little bit of an ankle. We’ll see how that goes. But I think the better days are ahead for him.

And what does it say about your conditioning? I mean, y’all chased that guy all night long, and still in the fourth quarter, it didn’t look like you were worn out.

“No, I mean, he’s a difficult player to play against. Um, and that’s why he was regarded as the top quarterback in the country by many. And you can see why, but I’m proud of the way our guys attacked him. Um, you know, we made him feel us today. Uh, he will leave here feeling the game against LSU.”

Uh, coach, you talked about the ankle injury, so obviously, the mobility got a little bit hampered, but before that, he was really decisive running the ball as well. How much did that really open up the offense?

“Yeah, it did. I mean, obviously, you know, running for a first down. Being, I think, in a mindset that he was going to do whatever was necessary for us to continue to move the chain. So, it was great to see that. Um, and he knows that he’s got to continue to do that.”

Brian, from a vision perspective, do you think from your running back group, this was the best night they’ve had this season in terms of seeing the holes and hitting them?

“Yeah, I thought so. I thought we were pretty disciplined. There was a couple early on, but other than that, you know, I think now it’s about breaking a couple of tackles. We had some single tackles that got us down on the ground. I think some of those guys would say, ‘I got to get through those tackles,’ but it was (an) improvement. Um, you know, I’m not ready to say that we’ve, you know, arrived, but there were strides that were made tonight. Um, and those are things that we’re going to build off of. Thank you.”

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