LSU's Brian Kelly Fumbles Question On Last Year's Win Over Alabama

BATON ROUGE, La. - It was a simple question.

But LSU coach Brian Kelly was as miffed by it as Alabama coach Nick Saban and his players were last year when Kelly decided to go for two in the first overtime in Tiger Stadium. That gamble worked. No. 10 LSU beat the No. 6 Crimson Tide, 32-31, on a pass from quarterback Jayden Daniels to tight end Mason Taylor in the right flat.

"I was not expecting it," Alabama coach Nick Saban said at the time.

"If you're in the same position you were in last year, will you go for two again?," a reporter asked Kelly at his weekly press conference Monday.

Will LSU Coach Brian Kelly Go For 2 Again Vs. Alabama?

After pausing, thinking and laughing, Kelly said, "The exact same position?"

"Yes."

"Um, that's a feel of the game," Kelly said. "So, it's really hard to answer the question. I felt like the game itself was such that our guys were executing at such a high level that that's what kind of prompted that decision. From my perspective, it's really about a gut feeling at the time, moreso than what's the perfect scenario. The feeling was we were executing at a high level at that time, and it was time to go for it."

LSU and Daniels had scored on back-to-back possessions in the fourth quarter to take a 24-21 lead over Alabama. They moved 69 yards in 11 plays for a field goal and 75 yards in seven plays for a touchdown before running the final seconds of regulation out after Alabama had tied it 24-24. The Tide took a 31-24 lead with the first possession of overtime. Daniels scored on a 25-yard run on LSU's first play to get within 31-30.

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At the time, Kelly said the opportunity to win it right there was too good to pass up.

"It was a decision at that moment," Kelly said on Nov. 5, 2022. "If we could boil the game down to one play and win the game. If before the game, someone said, 'I’m going to give you one play and you beat Alabama,’ I said, 'I would’ve taken that 100 times.'"

LSU coach Brian Kelly makes a point with an official during a recent game (Getty Images).

Kelly had lost his two previous games against Alabama and coach Nick Saban convincingly as Notre Dame's coach. He fell 42-14 in the national championship game on Jan. 7, 2013, and 31-14 in a College Football Playoff semifinal on Jan. 1, 2020.

Alabama was also a three-point favorite that day. Conventional wisdom says if you're an underdog or on the road, go for two for the win when you can. Kelly had one of those two scenarios.

LSU won the SEC West because of that victory last season. The West will likely be decided by No. 13 LSU (6-2, 4-1 SEC) and No. 8 Alabama (7-1, 5-0 SEC) again Saturday (7:45 p.m., CBS) in Tuscaloosa. And Kelly finds himself in the underdog role again by three points, and his secondary is missing several key players due to injury. So in a similar situation, he likely will go for two again.

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Top cornerbacks Zy Alexander, Duce Chestnut and Denver Harris will not play Saturday because of injuries, Kelly said Monday. Cornerback Ashton Stamps, who has also been in the two-deep, has been hurt, but was expected to practice on Monday.

Starting defensive tackle Mekhi Wingo will also not play because of injury.

"Clearly, we'd love to have Wingo in the lineup, but he has an injury," Kelly said. "And we're built for injuries. You can't be built for 11 players. We have depth. We have good players who will step up and be ready to play at a high level. It's part of football. In this game, if you lose one guy and you're not able to answer the bell, then you're not very good. We're going to miss them."

A reporter asked Kelly how LSU's defense can stop Alabama and improving, dual-threat quarterback Jalen Milroe with such absences at cornerback.

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"We've been at it long enough where these guys (backups) are ready to go," Kelly said. "They've got no choice, unless you're ready to go."

Brian Kelly looked at the young reporter who asked the question who is about 5-foot-8 and 155 pounds.

"Um, yeah, I'm not sure," Kelly laughed as did others. "We have a matchup problem. But these guys are ready to play."