Kelly puts onus on his team to keep Tiger Stadium electric vs. Crimson Tide
All season, LSU first-year head football coach Brian Kelly has hoped his team has learned lessons from each game and improved on weaknesses.
And that includes the importance of keeping a Tiger Stadium home crowd engaged and taking away home crowd momentum when LSU is on the road in opposing stadiums.
LSU’s raucous Tiger Stadium crowd in a 40-13 loss to then-No. 8 Tennessee was shut down in the game’s first four minutes when the Vols took a 10-0 lead after the Tigers fumbled the opening kickoff and then allowed a sizable UT punt return.
In LSU’s three SEC home games this season vs. Mississippi State, Tennessee and Ole Miss, the Tigers have been outscored in the first quarter by a combined 33-3.
LSU hasn’t scored a first quarter Tiger Stadium TD vs. an SEC foe under Kelly. The Tigers' only first-quarter TD in an SEC game was at Florida.
On the other hand, LSU had closing scoring bursts of 21 and 28 straight points in road wins at Auburn and at Florida and 21 and 28 at home vs. Mississippi State and Ole Miss.
Kelly said in his Thursday night media opportunity prior to Saturday’s Tiger Stadium showdown between the No. 10 Tigers and No. 6 Alabama he told his team it was up to them to keep the crowd engaged.
“I told them (LSU’s team) that the stadium should be electric, but it's only going to be electric if we play well,” Kelly said. “It's gonna be quiet if we don't play well.
"And I told them, `Look, you did a pretty good job of quieting the crowd at Auburn. You did a pretty good job of quieting the crowd of Florida because you played well in the opposing team stadium. So, if you want this crowd to be in your favor, we gotta go out play well.'
’“I've said this many times. It's a privilege to play in these kinds of opportunity games against an Alabama but we got to go do something about it.”
Here’s what Kelly said on other subjects:
On the playing status of offensive guard Garrett Dellinger who has missed several games with a knee injury
“He’s out. I just made a decision. He's better, but I'm not going to put him in the position that I think he’s at right now."
On last week’s open date
“After four straight SEC games, I think it hit at the right time. The guys needed a bit of a reset mentally and physically. They're anxious to play. We had two practices last week and then four this week. It feels like camp again. You know, these guys are a little bit `Hey, can we get to the game please?’”
On preparing for possible rain during the game
“We've got wet ball drills and practice any of those kinds of situations and scenarios. So, the biggest thing is obviously a wet ball in terms of trying to throw the football. We've done that now three days in a couple of periods and feel comfortable with whatever the weather conditions are."
On preparing LSU freshman linebacker Harold Perkins for Alabama Heisman Trophy winning QB Bryce Young
“I don't know that you can prepare anybody for a quarterback like Bryce Young. I think what Harold brings is obviously an athleticism that can close on him and force the ball out of his hands.
“The one thing that I think you got to be careful with is you're trying to make a big play on him and he makes you look silly. We need to get the ball out of his hand."
”On LSU’s offensive line preparation, especially freshmen tackles Will Campbell and Emery Jones, to handle Alabama’s Will Anderson
“They're going to be challenged and you just can't fan to one side. Both ends are outstanding players.
“We're gonna have to chip, we're gonna have to take the tight end and use him before he gets out. Slow release the tight end. We're gonna have to chip with the back. I think our guys have done a pretty good job.
“The one thing about the SEC what I've learned since I've been down here is that you're getting really good pass rushers each week and you have to account for that.”
On LSU’s players not putting too much pressure on themselves
“The preparation has been really good. I think what I saw maybe a little bit at the end of practice yesterday was `Coach, we need to get playing here.'
"This is a lot. They're anxious. They're excited. And I don't mean anxious in terms of nervous. I think they're excited about playing Alabama. I think there's a lot of respect for them. They know they're really good football team.
“They know that this has been a one-sided series, they've won one game in the last 10 years against them (Alabama). They're excited about this opportunity to play a program that has been consistently the best or measured as the best in the country.”