As LSU football starts to shift from fall camp to game preparation this week, head coach Brian Kelly addressed the media Tuesday for his last press conference before the first game week of the season.
Here are some of the takeaways from Kelly’s Tuesday press conference.
Injury update
One of the storylines of Saturday’s scrimmage was Sage Ryan leaving early with an injury to his left arm. Despite not finishing the scrimmage, Ryan was back at practice this week, according to Kelly. Ryan’s return is a positive sign for LSU with how thin the secondary has been, and the versatility Ryan has shown in camp.
“[Ryan] gives us flexibility to put a guy that’s played a lot of football out there that runs really well and can tackle in a position to help us,” Kelly said.
The other injury update came in LSU’s running back room as Josh Williams, Armoni Goodwin and Logan Diggs practiced Tuesday after being limited last week. This created an opportunity for freshman Kaleb Jackson to impress in Saturday’s scrimmage. Despite Kelly saying Jackson has done well, he added that there is “clearly more work to be done.”
Florida State preparation
With LSU’s season opener against Florida State less than two weeks away, Kelly said the team plans to do “a little bit” of Florida State preparation Tuesday and Wednesday, but they aren’t solely focusing on Florida State yet. Thursday, Friday and Saturday are when he said the team would start doing its normal game week preparation.
“When you break down preparation for me, I look at like a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday in season and we’ll do that twice. So, we’ve got plenty of time,” Kelly said.
Announcing No. 7 and No. 18
Despite being less than two weeks away from the first game, LSU has yet to announce who will wear the prestigious No. 7 and No 18 jerseys. The No. 7 jersey has often been given to the team’s top playmaker or most explosive player, with Patrick Peterson, Tyrann Mathieu and Leonard Fournette all wearing it in the past. The No. 18 jersey is synonymous with leadership at LSU.
“The No. 18 is the player who brings all those traits of someone who leads in an extraordinary manner,” Kelly said last year.
BJ Ojulari wore the number last season, and it has been worn most notably by players such as Tre’Davious White, Damone Clark, Jacob Hester and others. When asked about who would wear the numbers this season, Kelly said they will announce the players “probably by the end of this week.”
Being explosive on offense
One of the themes of the offseason for LSU’s offense has been creating more explosive plays. Pushing the ball downfield was made a point of emphasis going into the season, but Kelly talked Tuesday about being balanced in the way they create explosive plays.
“Explosiveness sometimes is looked at as a play that has to be from 20 yards down the field,” Kelly said. “It could be making sure that you get the ball into the hands of your dynamic playmakers and tactically setting it up as such that they touch the ball enough that you can get explosive plays.”
With wide receivers such as Malik Nabers and Aaron Anderson who are known for their ability to make plays with the ball in their hands, Kelly wants to create explosive plays in multiple ways apart from just throwing the ball deep. He referenced Alabama’s offense in 2020 when talking about creating balance in their explosive plays.
“I remember looking at Alabama’s offense in 2020, and their receivers weren’t necessarily always pushing the ball down the field. It was just flipping the ball out on the perimeter and then turning them into explosive plays,” Kelly said. “You have to balance those because you can’t just keep pushing the ball down the field and find yourself staring at third and 10.”
