Brian Kelly knows LSU can't afford to look ahead of Army

LSU head coach Brian Kelly is not taking Army lightly, and he is going to do everything in his power to make sure his Tigers team does the same.

The Black Knights are 2-4 on the season while the Tigers come in a 5-2 with a 4-1 SEC record. In games versus unranked teams, LSU is undefeated and averaging 48.8 points per game while allowing only 22.4 points to its opponents.

But as Kelly said to the media Monday during his press conference.

“It’ll be important for our guys to think about what’s important right now,” Kelly said. “The bye week’s not important right now. We don’t go to the bye week this week. This week, we need to focus on our development and we need to focus on our process and we need to focus on Army. If we focus on anything else, we’ll get beat. This football team is not a team that can play with the dimmer. We’re either on or off. We need to be on. If we’re locked in and doing our thing the right way, we’re going to have a good Saturday. If we’re not, we’re gonna struggle. We’ll talk about that today when we meet. We’ve got to be locked in on our process and how we prepare this week against a really tough opponent.”

After the bye week, LSU has its annual game versus Alabama.

The Tigers and Black Knights have faced off only one time previously back in 1931. The game was held Nov. 7 at Michie Stadium in West Point, N.Y. Army, then nicknamed the Cadets, won 20-0 and finished the season with an 8-2-1 record. LSU went 5-4 that season.

Kelly has coached against the Black Knights and head coach Jeff Monken before back in 2016. Kelly’s Notre Dame team won the game, 44-6.

Army has not won a game over a non-service academy-ranked team since beating Cal in 1968.

The Tigers have been led this year by Heisman contender Jayden Daniels, who has thrown for 2,294 yards and 22 touchdowns while completing 73.1% of his passes. Kelly had high praise for the quarterback during the press conference.

“Jayden Daniels has been amazing in what he’s doing,” Kelly said this week. “I know 2019 is still a trendsetter because it led to a National Championship, and rightfully so. But you should not take this for granted. It’s pretty remarkable stuff.”