Brian Kelly Sends Bold Statement Ahead Of Season-Opener Against Florida State
There are less than 72 hours remaining until Florida State and LSU kick off a top-10 matchup on Sunday night in Orlando. If there wasn't enough motivation for these two teams entering the first week of the season, Tigers head coach Brian Kelly provided more bulletin board material for the Seminoles on Thursday evening.
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During the first episode of The Brian Kelly Show in 2023, he made quite the bold claim.
"There are still areas that are going to need to be improved. We're going to take 15 freshmen on this trip and 14 transfers so nearly 40% of this travel roster are going to go overnight for the first time with LSU. And that's not a disclaimer of any kind, we're going to beat the heck out of Florida State," Kelly said starting around the 13:30 mark of the show.
"I guess what I'm saying is we're still developing our football team with new players, freshman players, transfer players. We're still in that process of developing and it's only going to get better as we continue to develop the program," Kelly continued. "It's pretty exciting from my perspective that where we sit here, going into year two, the future is pretty bright. If I was buying a stock, I would buy some LSU Football stock."
This will certainly add a little more fuel to the fire as the No. 8 Seminoles undergo final preparations to take on the No. 5 Tigers. With plenty of experience and talent on both sides, this is quickly shaping up to be one of the top non-conference games of the college football regular-season.
The two programs faced off in New Orleans in 2022 in what was an early display of what each team would develop into during the course of the season. Florida State led 24-10 with 9:09 remaining in the game but LSU went on a furious rally. The Tigers scored what looked like the game-tying touchdown as time expired but Shyheim Brown came flying off the edge to block the extra point, securing a one-point victory.
Quarterback Jordan Travis starred in the neutral site win for the Seminoles, completing 20/33 passes for 260 yards with two passing touchdowns and zero interceptions. Travis also made a couple of patented plays with his legs to keep drives alive as he was sacked zero times.
This will be the fourth straight year that Norvell has matched up against a Kelly-coached team. Florida State came away victorious during Kelly's first season with LSU but came up short in 2020 (26-42) and 2021 (38-41) against Notre Dame.
The Seminoles and Tigers will kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC on Sunday night. The winner will have an early edge on a potential path to the College Football Playoff. Florida State hasn't made the playoff since its inaugural season in 2014.
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