Brian Kelly didn’t need long to answer the question about LSU’s Week 1 demolition of Clemson. The former Tigers coach, now off the sideline and into the broadcast booth, admitted the whole thing was rough to take in.
“I’ll be honest, I had a hard time watching it,” Kelly said. “I don’t think it was just LSU, it was the first weekend truly of college football and it was hard, you know?
You’ve been doing it for 35 years and not to be part of that process… my wife, she wanted to kill me. She was like “what’s wrong with you?’
and what was wrong was that I wasn’t on the sideline. I had to deal with it and get through it.
There’s no mistaking, LSU looked great.”
Kelly’s reaction came Thursday, after LSU had already put together one of the loudest statements of the opening weekend. The Tigers rolled past Clemson 51-10 in Baton Rouge, piling up 644 total yards and overwhelming the visitors from start to finish.
The gap showed up everywhere. LSU finished with 38 first downs, while Clemson managed just 8.
Dabo Swinney’s Tigers were held to 145 total yards, and 71 of those came on the final drive of the game after LSU had already pulled back its starters. That drive produced Clemson’s only touchdown.
Kelly, who is now working as a color commentator for CBS and co-hosting a college football show on SiriusXM with Danny Kanell and Roy Philpott, was asked to react to the game from a very different seat than the one he used to occupy. His answer made it clear the sight of LSU running away with it hit him on more than one level, even if he couldn’t deny the result.
“There’s no mistaking, LSU looked great.”
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