Brian Kelly put his foot in his mouth, again. LSU lost back-to-back college football season-openers after its head coach directly jinxed the Tigers during pregame.
Perhaps the 62-year-old will finally learn his lesson?
Kelly began his third year at Louisiana State on Sunday night with a loss to USC. Bayou Bengals fans out-numbered the Trojans by about 20% at Allegiant Stadium, even though Las Vegas is a quick trip from Los Angeles, and the Tigers took a lead into the fourth quarter. They still couldn’t get it done.
The seven-point loss will force LSU to play its way back into the College Football Playoff picture over the next 11 weeks. Kelly’s team faces an uphill battle with top-15 teams Ole Miss, Alabama and Oklahoma still on the schedule. It cannot afford to slip up against UCLA, South Carolina, Arkansas, Texas A&M or Florida. Even Vanderbilt looked sneaky competitive during its win over Virginia Tech.
There is a real chance that the Tigers’ 0-1 start could put them on the outside looking in come year’s end.
Kelly was furious with the loss. He lost his temper, completely melted down during his postgame press conference, and slammed his fist down on the table.
The embarrassing temper tantrum presented a stark contrast from his comments on Thursday. Kelly proudly boasted about his expectations for the game during his weekly radio show. LSU was going to win.
We’re in a great position to beat the pants off of USC.
— Brian Kelly on Thursday
USC’s pants did not come off at any point on Sunday. Nor did the Trojans lose.
Awkward!!
To make matters worse, Kelly did the exact same thing last year before a neutral site loss Florida State in Week 1. He clearly did not learn his lesson.
The head coach said that the Tigers were going to “beat the heck out of” the Seminoles on his radio show. They proceeded to lose that game by 21 and dropped to 0-1.
For those keeping track at home, that is two years in a row. Back-to-back bold declarations. Back-to-back losses.
Maybe Brian Kelly will keep his mouth shut when LSU opens its season at Clemson next year….