Paul Finebaum sees 'enormous' pressure on Brian Kelly in Week 3
After suffering a loss against Florida State to open the season, the LSU Tigers took out their frustrations with a 72-10 win over Grambling State. Despite that, analyst Paul Finebaum thinks that LSU head coach Brian Kelly is under a lot of pressure.
As Finebaum explained on the Matt Barrie Show, LSU has a tricky game against Mississippi State that could become a major issue for Kelly.
“It’s remarkable,” Paul Finebaum said. “And as you look ahead to this upcoming weekend, there’s a game on there, and you know which game it is, that there will be enormous pressure on the head coach. That sounds crazy because it’s only his second season, but the idea of Brian Kelly taking his team in for an 11 a.m. start in Starkville. That is scary.”
This weekend, Mississippi State beat Arizona in a tight overtime game. Finebaum acknowledged that the result of the game could hurt the perception of Mississippi State, but he also doesn’t think that matters.
“I know Mississippi State survived last night, and that may not make you feel better about them in terms of beating LSU, but the environment will be insane. I’ve been to a couple of those 11 o’clock games and 11 o’clock may affect some fans, not in Starkville. That’s late in the day. So, my eyes are on that one very closely.”
For Finebaum, this is one of several SEC games worth keeping an eye on this week with a lot of pressure on Brian Kelly.
“Obviously, there’s other games, including the Billy Napier saga with Tennessee, but I think those are two games that you’ll be married to.”
Brian Kelly took responsibility for the Florida State loss
Following the loss to Florida State, Brian Kelly took full responsibility for the loss, especially the 31-0 run that Florida State went on during the second half.
“Yeah, I’m quite aware of the score and I didn’t like the way we came out. I sensed it. I felt it. I’ve got to take accountability and responsibility for the way that we came out in the second half. It’s disappointing,” Kelly said.
“But the buck stops with me, and I’ve got to get our football team to understand and recognize that you’ve got to play this game for four quarters with a mentality. And we just did not, for some reason. We thought we were somebody else. We thought we were the two-time national champion Georgia Bulldogs or something. I don’t know what we thought, but we were mistaken.”