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Brian Kelly began his tenure at LSU with a heartbreaker.
With under two minutes remaining in last Sunday’s season opener at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels led a 99-yard drive capped off by a touchdown pass to receiver Jaray Jenkins as the clock expired. Trailing Florida State 24-23, LSU kicker Damian Ramos simply needed to convert his extra point attempt to force overtime. But a blocked kick left the Tigers’ sideline and fans stunned as the Seminole crowd rejoiced.
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There’s so many things that I could stand in front of you that in week one we want to do better,” LSU head coach Brian Kelly said. “But they’re gritty. They’re going to play hard for LSU because they love LSU.”
Learned a lot from game 1. This team is gritty and love playing for LSU.
— LSU Football (@LSUfootball) September 6, 2022
Tigers Return to Death Valley to Host Cross-Town Opponent
Following the emotional week-one loss, LSU will return to Baton Rouge to face the Southern Jaguars Saturday night. The Jaguars are a Division I FCS team that enters the matchup off an 86-0 blowout win over NAIA Division I opponent Florida Memorial in which Southern scored the most points in a single game of any HBCU this millennium.
LSU will clearly present a much tougher matchup as its offense gained over 200 yards passing and nearly 150 yards rushing. Daniels — a transfer from Arizona State — accounted for the bulk of LSU’s production as the senior completed 74.3 percent of his passes and averaged over 7 yards per carry. Daniels spread the ball out to nine different targets, but Jenkins caught both of Daniels’ touchdown passes and led the team with 46 receiving yards on five receptions.
“[Jenkins] has been consistent each and every day,” Kelly said. “We made him a gameday captain for us on offense because of that and, ya know, obviously it showed in the game.”
Starting Stronger
Despite LSU’s late comeback heroics against Florida State, Kelly emphasized the importance of his team getting off to a better start as the Tigers failed to reach the end zone until the final minute of the third quarter.
“I just think we have to start faster,” he said. “It’s a combination of finishing off drives, playing with tempo, and just executing at a higher level.”
Saturday’s kickoff between the cross-town opponents is scheduled for 7:30 and the game will air on the SEC Network.
