Tiger Stadium tends to come out at night. On a hot, sunny day as it was Saturday, LSU showed some things it needs to keep under the cover of darkness in the very near future, or fix them.
The No. 16 Tigers shut out 24-point underdog UCLA in the second half for a 34-17 victory at Tiger Stadium Saturday afternoon on ABC for the world to see, but coach Brian Kelly did not like some of what the bright day exposed in the first half.
“Wish we were cleaner in the first half,” Kelly said of a 17-17 tie at intermission with a team that struggled to beat Hawaii, 16-13, this season. “The mistakes are maddening. We’ve got to clean them up. We’re going to continue to work. Those are the guys we got. There’s nobody getting traded.”
But if there was a trade deadline looming, Kelly and staff would be looking on the defensive side that made mistake after mistake in the first quarter as UCLA drove 75 yards in eight plays to tie the game 7-7 with its first possession and continued to stay in the game. Another 75-yard drive in 11 plays tied the game at 17-17 just before the end of the first half.
“It’s just maddening, some of the silly mistakes we’re making on defense that just have to go away,” Kelly said of the first half.
Defensive coordinator Blake Baker made no adjustments in the second half, but the players did. And that was not strategic.
“We didn’t make any changes,” Kelly said. “They executed the defenses that were called. And execution is attention to detail. Doing your job. D-Y-J. They did it in the second half. Doing our job on defense in the second half was the biggest difference from the first half.”
After gaining 104 yards in the first half, UCLA punted on its two possessions in the third quarter before quarterback Ethan Garbers threw an interception to LSU safety Jardin Gilbert to end the Bruins’ next series in the fourth quarter. UCLA punted again on its next possession, and it was over.
“We’ve made some improvements, but we’ve got a ways to go,” Kelly said. “We have to do the little things the right way.”
LSU played poorly in spots reminiscent of its sloppy 44-21 win over 46-point underdog Nicholls State two weeks ago that it led by just 23-21 in the third period.
The offense continued to blossom at least. Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier completed 32 of 44 passes for 352 yards and three touchdowns. He took the Tigers on pair of 90-plus-yard drives for touchdowns in the third quarter and into the early fourth for a 31-17 lead and a short drive for a field goal late and the 34-17 final.
“We weren’t like, ‘Oh, God, we’ve got to go 90 yards,” Nussmeier said. “We just focused on each play and started chopping away. It was a great feeling. We were backed up, but all aspects of our game were clicking.”
Particularly tight end Mason Taylor, who caught eight passes for 77 yards to become LSU’s No. 1 tight end in career receiving yards with 990. Richard Dickson had 952 from 2005-09.
But UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers still threw for 281 yards and two touchdowns himself on 22-of-36 passing and two touchdowns.
“We’re going to keep working with them (on defense), and they’re going to turn the corner,” Kelly said. “And we’re going to keep working on how to put them in a better position as coaches.”
LSU lost to of its top defensive players in linebacker Harold Perkins (knee) in the fourth quarter and cornerback Zy Alexander (concussion) in the second. Kelly did not give specifics on either.
“We don’t know,” Kelly said of Perkins, who had two tackles. “We’ll do all the diagnostic testing tonight and tomorrow. We’ll have a better answer for you on Monday.”
LSU may need both Saturday against South Alabama (2-2), which is 14th in the nation in total offense at 504 yards a game and No. 8 in scoring with 48.3 points a game under new coach Major Applewhite, a former quarterback at Catholic High in Baton Rouge and at Texas who is a former head coach at Houston.
“We’re playing a really good South Alabama team,” Kelly said. “Major Applewhite is going to have that football team raring to go. South Alabama has got a lot of talent. We’ve got to be ready for that football team, and then we get into the meat of the schedule.”
After South Alabama, an open week follows before No. 5 Ole Miss on Oct. 12.
Kickoff for South Alabama on the SEC Network Saturday will be at 6:45 p.m., which Kelly and LSU fans will undoubtedly welcome. Temperatures reached only 92 degrees during the game, but the heat index hovered around 100. It was hell in the East stands in Tiger Stadium opposite LSU’s bench, and fans fled the area in the second quarter like it was on fire. It felt like that as many fans passed out or needed medical attention for heat issues.
“We would prefer later games,” Kelly said. “But we’re beholden to the national audience. I feel bad (for the fans). I hope everybody is OK.”
As UCLA tied the game at 17 late in the first half, it appeared only about 50,000 fans were inside 102,231-seat Tiger Stadium.
“I did see visually that there weren’t many people over there because the sun obviously was pounding on them,” Kelly said.
Then he came up with a remedy for the heat – sort of – as assistant athletic director Keli Zinn was at the press conference.
“I know Keli Zinn is here,” Kelly said. “She will probably give you a little more information on the retractable roof that we’re talking about. Maybe not. No, there’s no retractable roof.”
By the time Ole Miss comes in, it should be pleasant enough without a roof with a tentative kickoff time between 5 and 7 p.m. Kelly will need to have other little and big things ironed out by then, particularly on defense.
“There’s enough talent out here to contend for an SEC championship,” he said. “We’ve got to clean up the little mistakes.”
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