LSU’s debut of the [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] era came a day later than most teams began the 2022 season, and it was not exactly worth the wait.
The Tigers found themselves in a hole against Florida State after an exceedingly sloppy start, and though they played better in the second half and nearly took the game to overtime, they fell at the end thanks to a missed assignment that led to a blocked extra point on the final play.
It was one of several special teams mistakes, joined by another blocked field goal and two muffed punts from [autotag]Malik Nabers[/autotag], and it proved emblematic of a rough game for LSU in a 24-23 loss.
Following Week 1, On3 updated its SEC power rankings, and the Tigers unsurprisingly sit near the bottom at No. 12 as the lone team from the league to fall in Week 1.
LSU had a difficult first matchup, taking on Florida State in the Superdome. Still, the Tigers looked like the inferior team from start to finish and it’s clear Brian Kelly has several significant issues to fix. First and foremost, shoring up the offensive line so whoever ends up playing quarterback survives is a top priority. Next: improving a defense that was porous and just lost one of its top players in defensive tackle Maason Smith.
The Tigers opened with a tougher opponent than most other league teams did, and there’s plenty of time to make progress this season. But the team that took the field on Sunday night didn’t look poised to compete in the SEC West, and there will be a lot to work on in this weekend’s game against Southern before SEC play begins on Sept. 17 when Mississippi State comes to town.
[mm-video type=video id=01gcc5zhsk0n3zchm8j1 playlist_id=01eqbz5s7cf4w69e0n player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gcc5zhsk0n3zchm8j1/01gcc5zhsk0n3zchm8j1-c74d1954f971e0e97fb903b62a72dc2b.jpg]
[listicle id=57458]
Contact/Follow us @LSUTigersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Louisiana State news, notes, and opinions.
Follow Tyler to continue the conversation on Twitter: @TylerNettuno