Brian Kelly blames bad preparation for LSU football's loss to Ole Miss

LSU football head coach Brian Kelly made his weekly appearance on the Paul Finebaum show Monday afternoon, and the tone of the discussion was different from his usual visits. Looking back at their conversation after LSU’s win over Clemson in Week 1, the conversation opened with a broad smile from Kelly and congratulations from Finebaum. That image appears in stark contrast next to this week’s appearance, featuring a somber Finebaum and a tense Kelly, clearly still frustrated with his team's loss on Saturday afternoon.

Finebaum opened the conversation by asking how Kelly planned to use the Tigers’ bye week, which they’re currently in, but quickly shifted to what fans really wanted to hear: Kelly’s analysis of his Tigers’ disappointing performance Saturday.

“Is there something in particular that you’re talking about there, in relation to what you, your team, or your staff did or didn’t do?” Finebaum asked.

Kelly’s response echoed the same feeling many Tigers fans had while watching last weekend’s game. 

“I felt like our football team had the personnel to win that game, and we did not at any time play complementary football,” Kelly explained. “Our defense was on the field for 50 plays in the first half against 24 for our offense, and that just can’t happen. You can’t have a one-sided display like that.”

The details of the game are a crucial part of understanding how the Tigers lost, but Kelly’s comments on his personnel are especially insightful — and frustrating.

Kelly recruited the top-ranked class in this offseason’s transfer portal, spending roughly $18 million to put together the team’s roster for this season, according to Kelly. It’s also assumed they spent a sizeable sum of money to keep star quarterback Garrett Nussmeier from entering last year’s NFL draft.

Kelly and LSU pushed all of their chips in for this season in particular, and after Week 1, it seemed their gamble was paying off. However, after suffering a loss to an Ole Miss team that came into this game without its starting quarterback, and seeing the Tiger offense manage just 256 yards of total offense, that hope has all but disappeared.

The brand-new offensive line that fans hoped would step in for last year’s top group without a stumble was dominated, ranking in the 30th percentile for PFF’s pass-blocking efficiency stat. That didn’t improve in the run game either, with the Tigers averaging just 2.8 yards per carry. The receiver group that added two of the top receivers in this year's transfer portal feels like an unknown commodity because their quarterback hasn't looked like himself all season

The only part of the team that held up their end of the bargain against Ole Miss was the Tiger defense, which held the Rebels to just 24 points, even though they spent most of the game exhausted because the offense couldn’t stay on the field.

Kelly took accountability for the offense’s struggles during his conversation with Finebaum, citing a failure in he and his staff’s preparation as the main reason for the loss instead of blaming his players’ performances.

“It’s never one person, right. It wasn’t Caden Durham, it wasn’t Garrett Nussmeier, it was a collection of things,” Kelly explained. “I look at our plan, and I didn’t like our plan. And that falls on us. That can’t happen, we’ve got to be prepared for everything and put our players in a position to succeed.”

The good news for LSU is that they are on a bye this week, which allows them to address the three issues Kelly mentioned in the quote above. First, starting running back Caden Durham was out against Ole Miss, contributing to the Tigers’ struggles on the ground. He was a game-time decision on Saturday, so he is likely to return after the bye week. 

Secondly, Nussmeier has been dealing with a torso injury this season, and the extra week of rest will hopefully allow him to recover fully. Kelly said he was completely healed from this injury last week, but watching how Nussmeier struggled to throw deep downfield against Ole Miss, it’s clear that’s not the case. 

Nuss puts everything he had on that throw and it's not even close.

This is not the same arm we once knew. Looked like the LA Tech INT.

That not being a TD is unacceptable pic.twitter.com/jwF3y4EZon

— Matthew Brune (@MatthewBrune_) September 27, 2025

Third, LSU’s coaching staff will have an extra week to prepare for their matchup against South Carolina on October 11th. If preparation was as crucial to LSU’s loss to Ole Miss as Kelly claimed, the additional week should help the Tigers enter Week 7 with a solid plan to turn their season around. 

Ultimately, LSU’s loss to Ole Miss will make its path to the College Football Playoff much more difficult. If the Tigers come out of the bye week as a stronger, better-prepared team, however, those odds aren’t zero.

This article originally appeared on LSU Wire: Brian Kelly blames bad preparation for LSU football's loss to Ole Miss