Brian Kelly identifies inexperience as issue with tackling

In an offensive shootout with Ole Miss, LSU simply couldn’t get enough stops, falling 55-49. The Tigers had a real issue with tackling in the contest.

But according to coach Brian Kelly, there’s only so much that the team can do about that. It ultimately comes down to players making plays.

“One’s a true freshman. One’s playing for his first time, in Laterrance Welch, ever on the road,” Kelly said. “I could go on, I mean, we were playing with inexperienced young players. And that’s who we have, there’s nobody else walking through the door. I mean, we don’t have another corner. These are the guys that have to play for us.”

LSU’s struggles defensively were stark. Ole Miss gained 706 yards in the contest, with an evenly split 317 yards on the ground and 389 yards through the air.

Whichever way the Tigers turned there were Rebels running by, through and around them.

For Kelly, it’s a matter of continuing to train the younger players and get them more experience. That’s the goal for LSU going forward.

“We have to continue to develop them, they have to continue to work at getting better each and every week,” Kelly said. “And, and that’s where we’re at. And so we got to keep rolling them out there and they got to get thick skin, they got to keep working on tackling. And they got to keep working on leveraging the football, they got to keep getting off blocks.”

LSU is still very much in the SEC West race, getting to take on Alabama later in the season. So that improvement will be vital.

The Tigers would love to repeat as SEC West champions with a shot to win an SEC title in Atlanta, even if a College Football Playoff berth is likely no longer in the cards following a second loss.

The good news is even with the issue with tackling on Saturday, Kelly saw some positive signs.

“Made a couple of nice plays on the ball, got the ball out,” he said. “You just got to keep working on it, work to get back.”

LSU’s next game will be against unbeaten Missouri at noon ET on Saturday, with a broadcast on ESPN.