USC football may have broken LSU head coach Brian Kelly on Sunday night

One of the intriguing storylines that was discussed heading into Sunday's game between USC and LSU was that the head coaches of both teams desperately needed a big win to change the nation's perception of them. That's what USC's Lincoln Riley got in the form of a 27-20 triumph in Las Vegas.

The coach on the losing end of the affair, Brian Kelly, didn't handle the defeat very well. In fact, in his postgame press conference, he went on a firey rant born out of frustration.

“We had some guys play their butts off tonight and we’re sitting here again, we’re sitting here again talking about the same things!” Kelly said as he slammed the table so hard with his fist that it knocked over a bottle of water. “About not finishing when you have an opponent in a position to put them away. But what we’re doing on the sideline is feeling like the game is over.”

While this game was a back-and-forth affair, late in the fourth quarter LSU had put itself in a position to win. Ahead 17-13 with 8:38 to play, the Tigers had possession of the ball after stopping USC on a 4th-and-9 at the LSU 36.

However, on the ensuing possession, the Tigers would run three plays and lose seven yards. That was due in large part to an unsportsmanlike penalty on LSU defender Major Burns.

After an LSU punt, the Trojans would embark on a quick-strike, 3-play TD drive covering 64 yards to take a 20-17 lead. Though LSU would tie the game at 20-20 with a field goal with 1:47 to play, Riley's offense would respond with the game-winning TD drive which was capped by a Woody Marks 13-yard scamper for the winning score with just eight seconds left.

Of course, on that drive, USC was aided tremendously by a targeting penalty assessed to the Tigers when DB Jardin Gilbert made head-to-head contact with Trojan wide receiver Kyron Hudson after Hudson made a one-handed catch along the sidelines. Following the game, it appeared as if all of the self-inflicted wounds his team suffered took a toll on Kelly.

“I’m so angry about it that I’ve got to do something about it. I’m not doing a good enough job as a coach,” Kelly said. “I’ve got to coach them better because it’s unacceptable for us not to have found a way to win this football game. It’s ridiculous. It’s crazy.”

Kelly has now lost three consecutive season openers after falling to Florida State in both 2022 and 2023. What's more, since 2022, his program is just 1-6 against ranked teams, including No. 23 USC this year.

This was only the second of those games that was a one-score affair, though. Still, Kelly was agitated by the fact that his team couldn't close the deal in a marquee contest.

“Unfortunately, it’s clear that, when we get up in a game, we do not know how to handle ourselves,” Kelly said. “You’ve got to put teams away. We had an opportunity to put this team away. We get complacent, we make more mistakes when we’re ahead instead of having a, you know, better focus and a steely-eyed killer instinct. That’s disappointing.”

Kelly is one of the more divisive personalities in college football. His short temper and odd demeanor make him the target of quite a few jabs from fans and the media alike.

Now, people are questioning whether he is the right man to lead LSU back to national prominence. Sunday's rant certainly didn't help quell those concerns. Meanwhile, USC fans are reveling in the fact that it was their team that may have sent Kelly over the edge.