November 7, 2024

Brian Kelly on LSU’s loss to Florida State: ‘We thought we were the Georgia Bulldogs’

Brian Kelly #BrianKelly

Brian Kelly simply said his LSU Tigers thought they were someone else.

Jordan Travis accounted for five touchdowns, including three to Michigan State transfer Keon Coleman, and the eighth-ranked Seminoles throttled No. 5 LSU 45-24 on Sunday night.

So what happened?

“For some reason, we thought we were somebody else,” LSU coach Brian Kelly said. “That we were the 2-time national champion Georgia Bulldogs or something. I don’t know what we thought, but we were mistaken.”

The Seminoles delivered a dominant second half to extend their winning streak to seven and established themselves as an early season favorite to make the College Football Playoff.

“I told them before the day that they’re built for a time like this, this stage, two top-10 teams in the country,” coach Mike Norvell said. “That second half, that was a glimpse of what this team can do and where I think it can go.”

They won this one primarily on fourth down.

FSU stopped the Tigers twice on fourth down in the first half, including once at the goal line, and scored the go-ahead touchdown one play after Travis connected with Lawrance Toafili for 41 yards on fourth-and-2. Travis ran in on the ensuing play to put the Seminoles ahead 24-17 and send most of the 65,429 in attendance into a frenzy.

Roughly 80 percent of those on hand were draped in garnet and gold. They got exactly what they wanted: a blowout to kickstart the program’s most hyped season in nearly a decade.

FSU won its final six games last season and then surprisingly returned nearly everyone for coach Norvell’s fourth season, including Travis, standout receiver Johnny Wilson and stud pass rusher Jared Verse.

But the star of the opener was Coleman, who left East Lansing, Michigan, for greener grass in Tallahassee. He finished with nine catches for 122 yards, including scoring plays of 40, 21 and 7 yards.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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