Brian Kelly addresses viral conversation with LSU holder during Texas A&M game

The LSU Tigers had a double-digit lead over Texas A&M before the Aggies stormed back to secure a 38-23 win on their home field this past Saturday. It was a LSU loss highlighted by turnovers, the inability to stop dual-threat quarterback Marcel Reed, and shortcomings in the kicking game.

The epitome of LSU’s special teams problems came in the third quarter up three points when a 46-yard field goal attempt resulted in a fumbled snap by LSU holder Peyton Todd that gave the Aggies the ball with great field position. Following the turnover, Tigers head coach Brian Kelly was spotted giving Todd an earful on the sideline during the broadcast.

“The battery is the the snapper, the holder, and the kicker. We’ve got to get them together as one,” Kelly said on Tuesday. “It’s not one without the other, all three of those guys have to work in unison and they were out of sync. As well as they were working the week before, I don’t know what happened, but they were out of sync.”

Texas A&M would take their first lead of the game following the botched field goal and never look back. In all, LSU missed two of its three field goal attempts.

“We had the untimely snap, we didn’t have a great hold, but as you know, it’s the kicker who’s going to get the blame. Because he’s the one ultimately that is out there getting the credit or the blame. But it’s the battery that was highly ineffective for us against Texas A&M,” Kelly explained. “And that battery, we got some work today on it. Which you very rarely put that group out there in an off week, but we had to get them out there today and spent a lot of time with them.”

LSU kicker Damian Ramos was 12-of-14 on field goals this season before Saturday’s matchup, and his long snapper and holder didn’t do him any favors in one of the most crucial moments of the game as well. It’s a mistake that truly can only be fixed with more practice and work at the college level.

“In the NFL what they do is, and I’m not making light of this because you’re losing a job, but there’s a bank of long snapping professionals and they can just dip into that bank and pay them. We don’t have that, like you can’t just go pick somebody out of the dorms and say come on in,” Kelly explained. “We just don’t have those guys.

“So what you really have to do is work harder with those guys and trust that they’re going to make progress and work as a unit. They’re all capable, it was a bad night, and you can’t have a night like that. For me, to have a night like that when they were so good all year is really troubling. But at the same time, we’re going to get it fixed,” Kelly concluded.

LSU thankfully has a bye week to correct their mistakes in the kicking game ahead of arguably their biggest game of the season. The Tigers host rival Alabama next week in a matchup with major College Football Playoff implications.