The LSU Tigers essentially got their season on the right track on Saturday after handing the Ole Miss Rebels their first loss of the season.

LSU's 45-20 win over Ole Miss should be enough to have the Tigers (who are 5-2 now) back in the top 25 this week.

After the game, LSU head coach Brian Kelly was asked about the progress the Tigers have made this season.

Kelly brought up the loss to the Tennessee Vols earlier this month and told reporters that LSU wasn't "as far away" in the 40-13 loss to UT as the score indicated.

Brian Kelly said on Saturday he didn’t think LSU was as far away as it appeared in the 40-13 loss to Tennessee pic.twitter.com/oHoILRM8Ab

— zach ragan (@zachTNT) October 23, 2022

"We weren't as far away in that Tennessee game as the score indicated," said Kelly. "Look, I went for it in a lot of fourth-down situations that exacerbated the score. That could've been 'let's keep it close' and everybody would've been like 'oh they played them tough'. We didn't play the game to keep it close. We played it to win it."

"But we didn't play very well that day," added Kelly. "Tennessee was the better football team that day. But when we went through it again and we watched the tape and we looked at it, we felt like we were a better football team. So I know perceptually we got lit up and rightly so — we were poor that day. I coach poorly that day. And we deserved everything that we got. But when we looked at it internally, we didn't think we were far off. And I think we're starting to prove that."

(Note: I think Kelly's comment about being a "better football team" is in reference to LSU being a better team than the score indicated, not that they were a better team than Tennessee.)

I understand what Kelly was trying to say there. To beat Tennessee, teams have to go for it on fourth down because they can't afford to have empty possessions when the Vols' offense is likely going to go right down the field and score.

The problem with Kelly's statement is that I don't think failing to get the fourth down conversions is what turned the game into a blowout. If the Tigers would've punted in some of those situations, Tennessee still would've gone down the field and scored. If LSU kicks a couple of field goals, the game would've been a little closer, but it ultimately still would've been a 20-point loss (or in that range).

Kelly is right that LSU is better than the score of that game indicated.

It's just that Tennessee is so good that it forces good teams to play a different kind of game. That's why the Vols are putting up absurd amounts of points against good teams. And they're making good coaches — and whatever you think of Kelly, he's a good coach — look completely lost on the sidelines.

Kelly will catch some grief for his comments about the Vols. But he's not wrong. And it's not a shot at Tennessee. The Vols are just on a different level these days. And they're making good teams look not-so-good.

In other words, it's a really fun time to be a Tennessee fan and it's not a fun time to be a coach who has to play against the Vols.

Featured image via Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports