By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
LAS VEGAS – LSU head coach Brian Kelly was more than disappointed.
He was four-plus wrinkles-on-his-forehead-angry.
Not just about the No. 13 Tigers’ 27-20 season-opening loss to No. 23 USC here in the Modelo Vegas Classic on Sunday in Allegiant Stadium.
It was about what led to LSU’s fifth-straight season-opening loss.
He was steaming about well-deserved two game-changing personal foul penalties against two of his veteran players. He was seething about the Tigers’ scoring just six points in three red zone trips. He was at a loss for words about his team’s lack of killer instinct.
“We’re sitting here again,” said a red-faced Kelly, pounding his fist on the table in a postgame press conference, “talking about the same thing, about not finishing off an opponent when you’re in position to put them away.
“What we’re doing on the sideline is feeling like the game is over and I’m so angry that I’ve got to do something about it. I’ve got to coach them better because it’s unacceptable for us not to have found a way to win that football game.”
USC running back Woody Marks, a Mississippi State transfer, ran 13 yards for the game-winning TD with 8 seconds left. The Trojans drove 75 yards in 59 seconds, not even needing to use a timeout.
“Two teams just traded blows the entire game,” USC head coach Lincoln Riley said. “We felt we had some missed opportunities, felt like we outplayed them more than what the scoreboard showed. Our guys were resilient.”
The Tigers took their first and only lead at 17-13 with 3:42 left in the third quarter on quarterback Garrett Nussmeier’s 13-yard TD pass to Aaron Anderson.
But on its next three possessions, LSU managed just a game-tying 31-yard Damian Ramos field goal with 1:47 left to play while USC scored a pair of TDs on a Miller Moss 28-yard pass to Ja’Kobi Lane with 5:44 remaining and Marks’ run up the gut for the game-winning points.
While Nussmeier finished 29 of 38 for 304 yards, two TDs and one interception on the last play of the night, he got no help from the Tigers’ running attack which was supposed to be a strength, powered by a veteran offensive line.
LSU ran for 117 yards on 26 carries, including 61 yards on 10 carries from John Emery Jr. But subtract Emery’s two best gains of 39 and 10 yards and the Tigers averaged just 2.8 yards per carry.
USC outgained LSU 447 to 421 in total offense yards, boosted by Moss’ 378 passing yards (27 of 36) and one TD and Marks’ 68 rushing yards and two TDs on 16 carries.
The Tigers’ defense batted down passes several times and failed to recover two fumbles it caused. And at crunch time, the defense and its new $16.11 million staff failed to come up with a plan preventing USC’s comeback.
On USC’s fourth-quarter TD drives covering 64 and 75 yards, it didn’t face a single third-down conversion situation.
Also, LSU had 10 penalties for 99 yards, including two senseless penalties that led to 10 USC points.
After Kyren Lacy caught Nussmeier’s 19-yard game-tying TD pass at 7-7 with 7:04 left in the second quarter, Lacy pantomimed shooting a gun at the USC defender he had just beat.
He was whistled from a personal foul, which forced LSU to kick off from its 20 instead of its 35. That helped USC return specialist Zachariah Branch to shake loose on a 46-yard return to the LSU 43, which led to a 22-yard Michael Lantz field goal and a 10-7 USC edge with 4:21 left in the first half.
Then with LSU leading 17-13, LSU stopped USC on fourth-and-9 at the LSU 36 with 8:38 left in the fourth quarter. However, the Tigers were hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty when senior safety Major Burns removed his helmet during the celebration before leaving the field.
That set the Tigers back to their 21 to start the series. LSU went three and out and punter Peyton Todd booted just a 35-yarder, fair caught at the USC 35.
It took USC only three plays to get in the end zone for a 20-17 lead on Miller’s TD pass to Lane.
“Those penalties were impactful,” Kelly said. “And even when we went up and down the field (offensively), we left a lot of points out there when you score just six points when you’re in the red zone three times.
“When our best was needed offensively, we did not deliver (like Nussmeier’s incomplete fourth-down pass to kill LSU’s opening drive after Kelly bypassed a chip-shot field goal). We put too much pressure on our defense to be something they’re not ready to be.
“They battled, but we have warts and they’re not going away overnight.”
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com