Introduction: Brian Kelly plays

LAS VEGAS – Brian Kelly slammed his left
fist on the press conference table,
nearly knocking over a water bottle.

After No. 13 LSU lost 27-20 to No.
23 USC after blowing a four-point lead
with less than six minutes left in the quarter,

Kelly didn’t hold back in expressing his frustration.
“Some of you made fun of me tonight and now you’re
sitting here talking about the same thing again.”

“That you can’t finish if you’re able to control them.
But what we do on the sidelines is we feel like the game is over.”
Kelly said it was the first time in his time at LSU that a

team had “upset” him, adding that the team lacked a “killer instinct.”
“I’m so angry about this that I have to do something about it.
“I’m not doing a good enough job as a coach,” Kelly said.

“We have to train them better because it is
unacceptable that we haven’t found a way to
win this football game. It’s ridiculous. It’s crazy.”

Penalties weren’t the only thing that kept LSU
from going down. His ground game also had problems.
Earlier this week, LSU offensive lineman Will

Campbell said the Tigers would take on the Trojans.
“We’re not trying to be quiet about it,”
Campbell said Tuesday. “Now I will tell everyone. Let’s play football.”

However, LSU managed just 117 yards on the ground
by the end of the night and had to rely on
quarterback Garrett Nussmeier to carry the offense.

Nussmeyer threw for nearly 300 yards and
two touchdowns, but after getting the ball in the
third quarter, LSU’s offense stalled, allowing USC’s

new defense under defensive coordinator D’Anton
Lynn to keep the Trojans in the game.
with several key stops in the third position.

“They had every right to be confident,”

Lincoln Riley said of LSU’s offensive line. “But we didn’t do it either. We just didn’t talk about it in the media.”

Of the 13 third downs the Tigers faced, only five resulted in first downs. After LSU scored the game-winning touchdown in the third quarter, LSU’s next four drives resulted in two punts, a field goal and an interception by Nussmeier that sealed the game.

“To be the football team we want to be, we have to eliminate the stupid mistakes,” Kelly said. “At the end of the day, we have to be able to play better with each other.”