No. 23 ranked USC defeated No. 13 LSU 27-20 in Las Vegas Sunday night, which seemingly made coach Brian Kelly very upset with his team, as he was visibly emotional during the postgame press conference.
Brian Kelly is big mad after LSU's loss to USC.
"We're sitting here (*slams fist*) AGAIN talking about the same things!... I'm so angry about it that I gotta do something about it! I'm not doing a good enough job as a coach... It's ridiculous! It's crazy!" pic.twitter.com/PzeTVlfjrT
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 2, 2024
"We had some guys play their butts off tonight and we're sitting here again, we're sitting here again talking about the same things!" Kelly said while slamming the table, scaring the reporters in the room. "About not finishing when you have an opponent in a position to put them away. But what we're doing on the sideline is feeling like the game is over."
In view of the late game dramatic ending, the Trojans were trailing 17-13 heading into the fourth quarter, but after a three play 64-yard drive with five minutes left, the score became 20-17. Then the Tigers answered back with a field goal to make it 20-20.
With the game on the line, USC junior quarterback Miller Moss surgically drove the team down the field again during the two-minute drill offense. In particular, the play of the drive happened with 15 seconds left, when wide receiver Kyron Hudson had an impressive catch to put the team in the red zone, following a targeting call which tacked on another 15 yards.
Kyron Hudson got lit up & still held onpic.twitter.com/fapZvcPnPy
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) September 2, 2024
To note, earlier in the game Hudson also had what announcers Rece Davis and Kirk Herbstreit called, "the catch of the year."
THIS ONE-HANDED GRAB BY KYRON HUDSON 😳 #SCTOP10 pic.twitter.com/b9gD3tccnk
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 2, 2024
With eight seconds left in the game, senior running back Woody Marks ran the ball into the end zone from the 13-yard line, securing USC the win, which means LSU has now lost their fifth straight season opener (third straight under Kelly).
"I'm so angry about it that I've got to do something about it," Kelly said. "I'm not doing a good enough job as a coach... I've got to coach them better because it's unacceptable for us not to have found a way to win this football game. It's ridiculous. It's crazy."
Despite the loss, LSU's offense showed signs of success, as quarterback Garrett Nussmeier connected with star wide receiver Kyren Lacy multiple times throughout the game, including a highlight reel touchdown during the second quarter.
Kyren Lacy got caught for too many pumps pic.twitter.com/kBWTHQL6sc
— Unnecessary Roughness (@UnnecRoughness) September 2, 2024
Kyren Lacy gotta chill 😭💀
— Hater Report (@HaterReport_) September 2, 2024
With this in mind, to everyone's surprise, Kelly kind of threw his QB under the bus after the game, as he stated, "He [Moss] outplayed our quarterback [Nussmeier]."
Brian Kelly on USC QB Miller Moss:
"He outplayed our quarterback" pic.twitter.com/waFg19k6ea
— College Transfer Portal (@CollegeFBPortal) September 2, 2024
All in all, Nussmeier passed for 304 yards (29/38), to go with two touchdowns and one interception.
On the other hand, Moss threw for 378 yards (27/36) and a touchdown.
Considering Kelly's comments, Nussmeier (88.1) actually had a better QBR (total quarterback rating) than Moss (79.2).
LSU HC Brian Kelly was NOT happy with his team tonight. 😳 https://t.co/pZcIe8p91J pic.twitter.com/Q4w7bNfVKg
— theScore (@theScore) September 2, 2024
As a result of the loss, coach Kelly now has a 3-6 record vs. ranked teams since starting his tenure as the LSU head football coach in 2022.
Related: Kirk Herbstreit's Dog Makes Surprise Appearance During USC-LSU Game
