Brian Kelly asked the obvious question every LSU fan was thinking following SEC rivalry loss to Alabama
The LSU Tigers were utterly embarrassed by the Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday in Baton Rouge in front of what became a very angry home crowd. 42-13 was the final score. Brian Kelly blew it in a critical game once again. And as he met with the media following the abysmal showing against Kalen DeBoer's […]
The LSU Tigers were utterly embarrassed by the Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday in Baton Rouge in front of what became a very angry home crowd. 42-13 was the final score. Brian Kelly blew it in a critical game once again. And as he met with the media following the abysmal showing against Kalen DeBoer's Alabama team Kelly asked the question every LSU fan was thinking.
But first he kicked things off the same way he did a week ago, by taking ownership and the blame for the ridiculously poor performance:
"I take ownership in not getting our guys in the right position tonight. We just did not make the best of opportunities that we had. And a lot of things didn't go the right way tonight."
It's nice that Brian Kelly didn't spend most of the post-game interview complaining about his players, but this is already getting old. Kelly realizes this. And that's why he asked the pivotal question: "What did these guys do for [the last] two weeks?"
"If you're watching the game, you're like, 'What did these guys do for two weeks?' We have a scheme to stop the quarterback. We did not get that done. So, I take responsibility for it. Blake [Baker] is not going to hide from that responsibility. We also have to put our players in the right position to take advantage of what they're capable of doing. So, [Blake and I] own it together. We've got to get it fixed, certainly."
Brian Kelly had two full weeks to fix his mobile quarterback defense problem, and yet things only got worse. It seems that neither Coach Kelly nor defensive coordinator Blake Baker have any idea how to stop the quarterback run. And if they do, it's clear that they definitely can't coach that knowledge into the LSU defense. Alabama's quarterback Jalen Milroe completely destroyed LSU on the ground.
It's not all Brian Kelly and LSU's fault that they couldn't stop the mobile quarterback run. Jalen Milroe is just a freaky athlete who can turn on the afterburners leaving an entire defense behind if defenders get even slightly out of position.
Milroe finished the game with 185 yards and four touchdowns on the ground, slicing and dicing his way through the LSU defense with ease throughout the contest. So, if Milroe could single-handedly destroy the LSU defensive game plan, then what's the move for Kelly and the Tigers moving forward?
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"We're not reinventing the wheel when it comes to defending the quarterback. There's only a couple ways to defend them. We have to be able to get our players…we've got to come with the right answers on what works best for the guys that we have. It hasn't worked very well these last couple games. So we've got to go back and start all over again and look at what's the best way to defend in certain situations?"
Coach Kelly isn't lying here. There's only so many ways to defend a mobile quarterback. They shouldn't struggle to stop quarterback runs all game every game. Something has to change, and Brian Kelly knows it. "Starting all over again" with their defensive scheme 11 weeks into the season doesn't sound like a great plan, but if Kelly and the Tigers don't do something they may seriously struggle to win any of their remaining games.
Some fans already believe Brian Kelly is under pressure right now, with a potential hot seat warming up under him. That might be a bit premature for now. But if the Tigers drop yet another loss here before season's end there will seriously start to be some clamoring for Kelly's job. What in the world will Coach Kelly do to fix their defensive woes?
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