Brian Kelly discusses how Tigers are handling success after win vs Alabama

LSU‘s 32-31 overtime upset win over Alabama on Saturday was a tone-setting moment Brian Kelly needed in his first season in Baton Rouge. The Tigers would need to run the table and win the SEC championship to advance to the College Football Playoff as the first two-loss team.

Following the win, Kelly opened up on how the Tigers are handling the success from Week 10 and moving one step at a time. The next immediate step is a road game at Arkansas on Saturday.

“Certainly, with the success that we’ve had we’ve entered into a new part of how we think,” Kelly said on Wednesday during the SEC coaches teleconference. “Our team needs to now handle success and that means preparing the right way, avoiding distractions and working on what they’ve been good at and that’s day-to-day.

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“Each and every week in the SEC you have to prepare for dynamic players and we’ll have a challenge again going to Fayetteville. We’re playing a well-coached team, a very difficult team to play offensively. They mix things up on defense.”

Although the Tigers do have a pathway to the top of the SEC, Kelly noted that he isn’t stressing the various scenarios with his players.

“We’re not going to walk in with a PowerPoint on the SEC Championship race and who’s got what and all those things, but yeah it’s there. It’s out there and they know what they’re going for,” Kelly said earlier in the week.

Kelly details LSU’s mindset towards winning the SEC West

Kelly believes LSU’s success on Saturdays starts with doing all of the little things right each day during the week leading up to the game.

“Our goal is to graduate champions, so part of this is they want to be champions, and they know that there are steps along the way in this process of getting there and so this week will be another step towards becoming a champion,” Kelly said.

“And so let’s do the things that we need to do, and it starts with today. Being early, being on time, making sure that they’re intentional about everything we do. So yeah, championships are important, that’s what they’re here for, and getting to class today is what they’re here for.”

This week, the Tigers must handle the Razorbacks who are coming off of what Sam Pittman called an unacceptable loss versus Liberty. According to the ESPN matchup predictor, LSU has a 72.5% chance of victory in the battle for the boot. Kickoff is at noon ET in Fayetteville with the game broadcast on ESPN.