LSU football: A laundry list of miscues in opener leaves Brian Kelly with few excuses

BATON ROUGE - The list of mistakes was long. Brian Kelly knew he couldn't talk about everything.

"There are so many things that I can stand here in front of you that in Week 1 we want to do better," Kelly said to reporters on Tuesday ahead of LSU's home opener against Southern. "I could touch upon every single aspect of the game."

Whether it was the blocked extra point that sealed the fate of the game, the two muffed punts, the missed tackles, the inability to get off the field on third down, the poor play from the offensive line or the blatant targeting penalty committed by one of his best pass rushers, LSU's first-year coach would have trouble explaining why each mishap came to fruition in the Tigers' 24-23 loss on Sunday night to Florida State.

But that's what Kelly attempted to do on Monday.

"This isn't coach speak. We have to do a better job coaching our players and they have to do a better job of execution," Kelly said. "So what is execution? Execution is really playing with great confidence and trusting your teaching. And sometimes in the moment, you lose that trust and you go back to some things that you had done before, and that sometimes is not the best way to do it."

Kelly discusses decision to keep Malik Nabers as punt returner following first muffed punt

Special teams' mishaps are what cost LSU a victory against FSU. A blocked extra point denied the Tigers an opportunity to win it in overtime, but Nabers' two muffed punts – with the ladder coming with under three minutes left in the fourth quarter – didn't help.

After Nabers' first fumble, Kelly explained that it was his decision to stick with the sophomore wideout as the punt returner.

"We always benefit from hindsight, right? But I felt like he's an elite athlete. He's confident. And I wanted to show that confidence in him," Kelly said.

Along with the muffed punts and blocked extra point, LSU also had a field goal attempt blocked in the first half and a punt shanked by Notre Dame transfer Jay Bramblett.

After the blocked field goal, Kelly thought they had fixed the issue after adjusting the personnel on the left side of the formation with "somebody over there who we felt would shore up that side." But the result of the game's final play proved that not to be true.

"On the final PAT, we didn't execute the way we needed to," Kelly said.

Ali Gaye's targeting call and who will step up in Maason Smith's absence

Kelly confirmed on Tuesday that Smith, the star sophomore defensive tackle, tore his left ACL in the first quarter. Stepping into his place will be a rotation including Missouri transfer Mekhi Wingo and Jacobian Guillory next to Jaquelin Roy.

"We're crushed for him because he was celebrating for a teammate on the play," Kelly said. "Anytime you suffer an injury, under those circumstances, it's extremely disappointing.

"Mekhi has been amazing. He's been a great leader. He won this week's SWAT team points again," Kelly said. "He played very well (on Sunday), he's active. (But)... it's hard to compare anybody to Maason Smith, his size, his athleticism."

Gaye, on the other hand, will sit out the first half of Saturday's game after committing a blatant targeting penalty in the third quarter against the Seminoles. Kelly had no excuses for the fifth-year senior defensive end's actions.

"I'm not giving Ali Gaye a pass on that targeting. If you look that up in a dictionary, that's what targeting is," Kelly said. "That was a young man who was regretful of the decision and how that went about."

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LSU football's offensive line issues

Besides special teams, no unit struggled more on Sunday night for LSU than the offensive line. Quarterback Jayden Daniels was pressured on almost 32% of his dropbacks, according to Pro Football Focus, and found himself scrambling for yards throughout the night.

"Are there better ways we could have helped our offensive line? Should we have sprinted more? Should we have gapped it more?" Kelly said. "We started to chip late in the game and give some help on one side or the other."

The offensive line wasn't the only unit that also struggled in pass protection. LSU's running backs and tight ends also had trouble holding up against FSU's pass rushers.

"We know where our limitations are. We're going to have to be there and we're going to have to be better at the running back position," Kelly said. And we've got to be creative. It is what it is."

Koki Riley covers LSU sports for The Daily Advertiser and the USA TODAY Sports South Region. Email him at kriley@theadvertiser.com and follow him on Twitter at @KokiRiley.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU football, Brian Kelly with few excuses after season opener