Brian Kelly refuses to mince words in response to Dabo Swinney’s criticism of how LSU and Clemson played
It didn’t take long for LSU head coach Brian Kelly to respond to Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney’s attempt to mitigate his team’s loss in Week 1. The LSU Tigers went into Clemson’s Death Valley and delivered a knockout performance, winning 17-10 in a more decisive victory than what the final score indicated. Unsurprisingly, Swinney […]
It didn’t take long for LSU head coach Brian Kelly to respond to Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney’s attempt to mitigate his team’s loss in Week 1. The LSU Tigers went into Clemson’s Death Valley and delivered a knockout performance, winning 17-10 in a more decisive victory than what the final score indicated. Unsurprisingly, Swinney went into defense mode to save face after the upset win, but Kelly wasn’t having it.
In response to Swinney saying Clemson’s loss was like dealing with a “final exam on day one of class,” and that “Neither one of us were great,” Kelly was poignant. Here’s what he said, detailing how he saw LSU’s takedown of their ACC rival.
“We dominated them in the second half, so he’s either a really good grader for giving himself a 58 or he is a really hard grader on us. Or he didn’t see the second half, which that might be the case. He might not have wanted to see the second half.”
This was a great response from Kelly that was surely aimed at getting more attention for his Tigers as recruiting heats up and his program looks to get higher in the polls. The game was tied at 10 in the fourth quarter, so it might be a bit unfair to claim dominance, but LSU certainly looked more in control than not.
LSU had 12 more first downs, 93 more yards, 12 fewer penalty yards, and won the time of possession by almost 12 minutes. They lost the turnover battle because of two fumbles, but the Tigers controlled Clemson throughout. They were one incomplete pass to Barion Brown away from having a bigger margin of victory.
That’s why Kelly was smart to claim such a big win. The politicking of getting into the College Football Playoff never ends, and some funny swipes in the media won’t hurt his cred with anyone but Clemson fans.
