Brian Kelly jokes with Holly Rowe over gameplan for Garrett Nussmeier's start vs. USC

While Brian Kelly may have his own nerves for the opener, he’s confident that his quarterback won’t tonight.

Kelly spoke with Holly Rowe right before kickoff on ABC for the matchup between No. 13 LSU and No. 23 USC. He joked that anxiety is normal for all the players for a first game like this one – even though he thinks the sideline reporter wouldn’t know much about that herself.

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“Everyone is going to have some jitters. I’ve got them too,” admitted Kelly.

“I know you don’t,” Kelly joked to Rowe.

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Kelly is also confident in Garrett Nussmeier because of who he is and what the Tigers have around him. Nussmeier is experienced and so is their offensive line with both being advantages for the quarterback in his second career start tonight in Las Vegas.

“Yeah, you know, listen. We’ve got a very good offensive line. That’s a good thing in openers,” said Kelly. “You can rely on the offensive line to run the football, get him settled into the game.”

“You know, he has played this game all of his life. He played last year in the bowl game,” Kelly added. “I don’t think it’s going to be that big.”

There’s a lot of belief in Nussmeier going into this season, especially with what he showed in the finale last year in the ReliaQuest Bowl. In his debut start during a 35-31 win over Wisconsin, he went 31-45 (68.9%) for 395 yards, three touchdowns, and a lone interception. That set him up for this redshirt junior campaign where he finally gets to be the QB1 in Baton Rouge.

Nussmeier will get to do so behind one of the best offensive lines, if not the best, in the country. That’s without even mentioning his weapons around the rest of the offense.

A first real start for a quarterback in a primetime moment during a Top-25 matchup could definitely cause some of those jitters. However, Kelly isn’t worried at all about Nussmeier coming into tonight’s kickoff.

LSU fans play ‘Neck’ via trumpets, take over Las Vegas casino

LSU is one of two teams taking over Sin City for the night ahead of their matchup inside Allegiant Stadium.

With that, two Tigers got the party going inside Mandalay Bay Sportsbook by bringing in a pair of trumpets amongst the crowd. That led to their rendition of the team’s anthem of ‘NECK’ in Las Vegas.

Two men brought trumpets into Mandalay Bay Sportsbook and “NECK” broke out…

If any city in the world should’ve been prepared for this, it’s Las Vegas.

They weren’t prepared for this. pic.twitter.com/xDuJAdajKu

— Matt Moscona (@MattMoscona) September 1, 2024

The Bayou Bengals surely know how to have a good time, especially in a locale like Vegas. The only hope now is they travel back home tonight or tomorrow with an opening victory for the Tigers.