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The USC Trojans kicked off their college football season with a statement win over Brian Kelly and the LSU Tigers. That victory wouldn’t have occurred, though, had the Trojans’ head coach gotten his way.
Rumored cowardice has followed Lincoln Riley dating back to his departure from Oklahoma.
Riley bailed on the Sooners after it was made public that they were headed to the SEC come 2024. He then reportedly spurned a chance to coach at LSU, again avoiding the conference, to accept the role at Southern Cal.
Brian Kelly was the beneficiary, landing the LSU gig shortly thereafter.
The two schools scheduled this most recent matchup prior to either coach’s arrival, but it was reported that Lincoln Riley fought to have the Tigers removed from the USC schedule after being hired.
Those efforts would be unsuccessful, which turned out to be a good thing for the guys in Los Angeles!
As for Kelly, he has no plans of shying away from scheduling difficult matchups in the future despite the loss.
LSU hasn’t fared well in high-profile Week 1 matchups in recent years, but Brian Kelly still believes they are the right way to start seasons and develop his teams: pic.twitter.com/vaLhbK9zPB
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) September 3, 2024
“Winning a game 73-0 against an opponent that really you’re overmatching does not tell you anything about your football team… We know a lot more about our team.”
He’s not running from competition, even though he’s yet to win a season opener in Baton Rouge. He’s embracing the challenge!
LSU has been able to recover from early setbacks over the last few years, posting back-to-back 10-win seasons with Kelly at the helm. We’ll see if the Tigers can do so again in 2024.
And don’t expect the outlook on scheduling to change. LSU is set to open against Clemson in ’25 and ’26.