The No. 11 Alabama Crimson Tide defeated the No. 15 LSU Tigers 42-13 Saturday night in Baton Rouge. The loss all but ends the Tigers’ chances of making the College Football Playoff, sending the rest of the season into a tailspin. LSU head coach Brian Kelly spent time with the media following the loss to Alabama.

Below is a full transcript from LSU Brian Kelly:

Opening statement:

“I’ll start by saying that what we thought would be an exciting night turned out to be a disappointing night. I told my team that I was certainly excited going into the game about their preparation and the how they thought about this game, what they needed to do physically and mentally all the things that we talked about. They were ready to play, I recognize that our guys weren’t. in the right position tonight, and we We just didn’t make the most of the opportunities that we had. There were definitely a lot of things that we had that didn’t go our way tonight, not being able to get off the field on third down. turning the ball over on offense, and it seemed like there were key elements in the game at times that didn’t go our way. It was one of those nights where you look at it and in totality, don’t. Take nothing away from Alabama, they played very well this night too, but now we’re facing a second SEC loss, and we’re on the right track. We have to, as coaches, put our guys in a better position to succeed. This is the challenge I must face. I recognize it, and we need to play cleaner football, and we need to get off the pitch. Those are the two big takeaways for me, when it comes to the game itself. There were some untimely things that happened during the game that were critical and really set us back from the play itself, whether it was timely penalties or third-down conversions. They all had an impact on the game and the final result.

Looking for answers to stopping Alabama QB Jalen Milroe…

“Look, if you watch the game, you’re like, What did these guys do for two weeks? We had a plan to stop the quarterback. We didn’t do it. So I take responsibility for that. Blake (Baker) is not going to shy away from his responsibility, but we also have to put our players in the right position to take advantage of what they are capable of doing. We own it together and we certainly have to fix it, because it’s. is the case. It’s been a few weeks now, you know, in two. So, I respect the inquiries and the questions because we are now going into these last three games with the need to win these three games and play better football in the month of November.

On how the team will handle the rest of the schedule after this disappointing loss…

“I think everyone’s asking the same question. We’re disappointed. We’re disappointed with the way we played. You know, these guys don’t say, ‘We’re out of the playoffs!’ They’re disappointed and I’m disappointed that we I haven’t been up to the standard of LSU football It affects us more than the damn playoffs We’re disappointed because when you put on the LSU jersey there’s a standard of football. , these three letters on your jersey is a prerequisite, and we didn’t live up to it. That’s the disappointment.

How do you go about troubleshooting program issues?

“Well, deficiency is a relative term, right? I mean, we just beat Ole Miss here in a big game, against Georgia. We went on the road and beat a really good South Carolina team had a great win against A&M So playing in the SEC is a dog fight We didn’t play up to our standards tonight. Fix is ​​a relative term. right? We need to think seriously about how which we can put our kids in a better position to succeed, and so frankly, take care of Football We had six turnovers in the last two games If I told you that you were going to turn the ball over six times against A&M and l. ‘Alabama, what do you think about this, I would say it’s not really good? well, you know, we have to get off the field and stop the quarterback running So when you break it down. , these are really the big things that we will examine.

On the pitch, did you have the impression that the players felt like they were out of action before the end of the match?

“No. No. No, I mean, those guys kept fighting, kept playing. You saw, we scored with what? 11 seconds left? I think that’s probably a pretty good indication They made it seven against us with 22 seconds left. They didn’t give up. We didn’t look at the scoreboard, obviously they didn’t want us to score. . and got a personal foul penalty at approx. a minute from the end of the match That made two teams still playing until the very end.

What was the biggest problem on the third try?

“Oh man, I should go back and look at it. Third down is all about staying out of third down and long. You know, as you know, the national passing percentages on third down are about 40- So stay out of third and long games, generally speaking. Some of it is decision making. Some of it is all of that. third attempt, traditionally during the year I think. the turnover really set us back The mask penalty was a momentum killer for us in the game I’d like to sit here, the bottom line is that we don’t. We haven’t played up to the level of LSU football, that’s my fault for making sure we put our players in better positions to succeed and that’s the job I’m going to do. Third down is – and I don’t do it. not poo poo the question, but the third try is something I I think we can work and continue to improve.”

What can you do to correct the red zone infraction?

“You know, the red zone is, ultimately, having a good running game, where you just chew people up in the running game, or you have a veteran quarterback who’s smart, savvy, experienced and I had both. Garrett is getting there as a freshman, he’s learning the ropes We ran the ball very well, that’s why we have our……. (inaudible) on the short field.

How do reversals self-destruct?

“Well, you know, the first turnover is mechanical in the sense that we had the ball in one hand. The quarterbacks, when they come out of the pocket and Garrett will tell you, he should have had a second hand on the ball. However, we had a young guy in there, we missed the protection, he was red, so we can sit here and talk about all the details, we turned the ball over, we have to work on that and we. We need to get our hands on football. Fundamentals It’s on me. We need to coach better and make sure it gets done.

The second one was back in media coverage and unfortunately, I’ve seen this interception far too many times in my career. He’s a free agent linebacker that can just let loose and you have to play touch and throw to the backline and we just didn’t do it there. I feel like I’m here trying to make excuses and I don’t want to do that. We need to coach better in these situations.

Can you explain why the team did not play up to LSU’s standards?

“Well, I think I’ve talked about that a little bit, haven’t I? The inability to get off the field on third down was tactical in some cases because it wasn’t exploited the right way on the football. Again, it wasn’t for a lack of effort. We have to continue to work with the guys that we have. We have a lot of young players, whether it’s running backs. first year or rookie position or a first year starter. here or there we just can’t make excuses and we just have to continue to work with them and coach them. They were ready to play, but we have some inexperience that we have to continue to work with and we have to. take advantage, put them in better positions to succeed and it’s my fault.”

What do you think of the sanctions?

“So we had two holding penalties, right? I think we would all agree that holding penalties become what I saw or what I didn’t see during of this game. The face mask penalty? Was it a face mask? (It was) Okay. the replay? According to the rule, he grabbed his mask and knocked him down?? Okay, good. Anyway, look, I think the only thing that upset me was maybe the push. late with Swinson, but you know, it’s like anything else, right? .We didn’t have a lot of IP or possessions. It didn’t seem sloppy to me. Maybe we had a frustration penalty late in the game. That’s kind of how I looked at it, maybe I’m wrong. I’m not leaving this game saying ‘man, we need to clean up these penalties.’ I leave this game saying “We need to get our kids in this.” a better position to succeed.” It’s my responsibility, that of our coaches, we have to train them better because that’s what we have. There are some inexperienced players who will continue to play for us and we need to put them in better positions to succeed. »

Any thoughts on the debris on the ground?

“If I were our fans, I wouldn’t be happy. I’m not advocating that you throw anything on the field. I think it’s like any venue. I think you have to be good judgment, but I wouldn’t be happy if I watched us play. I wasn’t happy with the way I coached or played either.

What is the limit for getting back in or out of the game?

“You saw it. We’re back in the ball game if we score on the three-yard line. That’s the margin, right? We take it to the goal line. We’re ready to make one- We can’t overcome the myriad of things that didn’t go well tonight. It’s just the reality that rests on my shoulders I have to do a better job and our players have to. learn from those situations in which we cannot put ourselves because we can’t overcome them. Unfortunately, it was ill-timed and they were a very good football team and if you continue to do that and I told our team, you “We’re living on borrowed time when. you keep putting yourself in tough positions and tonight the dam finally broke as we kept putting ourselves in those tough positions, the dam finally broke.”