The Florida State Seminoles spoiled the first game of the [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] era in front of a Tigers-leaning crowd at the Caesar’s Superdome in New Orleans on Sunday night. LSU couldn’t overcome a laundry list of mistakes in a 24-23 loss that soured Kelly’s debut and gave Seminoles coach Mike Norvell a much-needed win.
The Tigers struggled in all aspects of the game, but they managed to stay in it until the end. After a pair of second-half touchdowns and a providential forced fumble at the goal line with 1:20 to play, it looked like they were going to overtime. Quarterback [autotag]Jayden Daniels[/autotag] found [autotag]Jaray Jenkins[/autotag] in the end zone for a touchdown pass as time expired.
But the game-tying extra-point was blocked, and the Seminoles escaped with a win to stun LSU and Kelly.
This defense entered the year with high expectations, but it’s clear the unit still has a long way to go. It was dominated by FSU as quarterback Jordan Travis had one of the best games of his career. Travis completed 20 of 32 passes for 260 yards and two touchdowns through the air — both to top receiver Ontaria Wilson. The Seminoles also gashed the Tigers for 132 yards on the ground.
LSU lost two of the best players in its front seven as defensive tackle Maason Taylor left and didn’t return with a knee injury while edge rusher Ali Gaye was ejected on a targeting call and will miss the first half next week, as well. The new-look secondary disappointed as Travis, who is mostly known for his legs, did a lot of damage through the air.
Offensively, things weren’t much better. Daniels won the quarterback job, and though he made some plays on the ground, totaling 114 yards on 16 carries, he was less effective through the air.
He picked things up in the second half and finished with 209 yards and two touchdowns on 26 of 35 passing, but he was clearly limited in that regard and only found star receiver [autotag]Kayshon Boutte[/autotag] twice for 20 yards.
Of course, shoddy offensive line play didn’t give him much of a chance. He was sacked four times, giving a young unit a lot to work on as the Tigers try to move forward. There’s plenty to clean up outside of that, starting with special teams after two blocked kicks and two muffed punts from [autotag]Malik Nabers[/autotag].
It was about as disappointing a start as Kelly could have had, but LSU will hope to bounce back when it welcomes the Southern Jaguars to Tiger Stadium for the home opener next Saturday.
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