Brian Kelly addresses team disappointment: 'That affects us more than the damn playoffs'

LSU had its season all but end with their latest loss essentially eliminating them from making the playoff. However, Brian Kelly says that wasn’t the most disappointing aspect of the game for their program.

Kelly addressed how the Tigers will approach their final three games after losing at 42-13 to Alabama to get their third loss and one that would remove them from contention for a berth in the College Football Playoff. While that is the case too, he and they were more disappointed in the 29-point outcome to the Tide as it didn’t meet what they expect from themselves in Death Valley.

“Yeah, I think everybody asks the same question. We really – look, they’re disappointed. We’re disappointed in the way we performed, you know. We’re not going, these guys are not like, ‘Hey, we’re out of the playoffs,'” Kelly said postgame. “They’re disappointed and I’m disappointed that we didn’t live up to the standards of LSU Football. That affects us more than the damn playoffs.”

“We’re disappointed. When you put on the jersey for LSU, there’s a standard of football. Those three letters on your jersey? It’s a prerequisite,” said Kelly. “We didn’t live up to that. That’s the disappointment.”

So much hype had centered on this matchup between No. 11 Alabama and No. 15 LSU. The game served as a de facto one within the playoff as the loser was unlikely to be in with three losses overall with two in conference play to keep them out of the SEC Championship as well.

With that, ‘Bama handled the Tigers from start to finish in Baton Rouge on Saturday. They totaled 420 total yards on offense, including 311 in the run game, while forcing three turnovers with two interceptions and a fumble recovery. Jalen Milroe carried the night with 185 rushing yards and four scores to make up over 60% of their production on the ground.

Now, LSU has three games left that’ll likely do nothing but improve their eventual bowl berth in the postseason. What it can still do, though, is get them to 9-3 in a way in which Kelly and the Tigers think they should play.