My first thought after the game last night was, "Brian Kelly got out-coached", a first for me. That was not a Brian Kelly team. Brian Kelly teams do not lose games in the fourth quarter, much less with eight seconds left.
It was also not a Lincoln Riley team. Oh, the big offensive plays were there. But the defense! The Olé defense, the swinging gate defense, the sieve defense, the last-team-with-the-ball wins defense. Poof! LSU's first drive told. Marched right down the field. SC's D stiffened at the 3. Kelly knew his O would score against the la-la softies from SoCal. Stopped on 4th down. Kelly knew that even if, inexplicably, they didn't get the touchdown they'd have SC so pinned down that they'd get the ball back at midfield, heck, maybe even get a safety! But Miller Moss, SC's QB, stared Death Valley in the face, and game out slinging. Nine yards on the first play, eight on the second, both passes. They got respectable field position and then BOOMED a punt all the way down to the "Tigers" 17. Well. Not yesterday's USC!
Kelly didn't know his opponent for once. Lincoln Riley knew his opponent better and the "Trojans" got a signature win and Kelly an unusual, dispiriting L. He got out-coached.