“Fire Kelly” has been all over social media for the past few days. While other head coaches are fighting for the NFL Coach of the Year title, it looks like Kelly is not taking things seriously. Back-to-back three defeats in five weeks have raised significant questions about his potential as a head coach. However, he is not the only one who is facing criticism. Garrett Nussmeier has also been receiving quite some heat.

After receiving a lot of hate, quaterback and LSU’s leader bounced back last week against Vanderbilt and led the team to a 24-17 victory. In the postgame press conference, Kelly highlighted Nussmeier’s leadership qualities and said, “I appreciated leadership, you know, and how they stepped up and looked at the end of the day. You guys were at the same press conference that he was at, and he took full responsibility and accountability for, you know, how we were playing, and then the coaches took full responsibility and accountability for, you know, not getting our players in a better position to succeed, so this was all of us together coming together and saying we have to all be better and they were better and I’m happy for them.” 

Yesterday, Nussmeier displayed his leadership qualities by effectively checking out of run plays when it was needed. His decisions helped the Tigers to avoid negative rushing plays throughout the game. No doubt that he made some crucial choices throughout the game.

He entirely took the responsibility of the O-Line and laid the groundwork for success. He was also looking comfortable in the pocket, thanks to the support he got from his players. The quarterback completed 28 out of 37 passes for 332 yards and threw one touchdown. However, this performance came after a long time of struggle for the quarterback.

Who thought after back-to-back six victories the Tigers would find them in a tough spot with dim chances of appearing in the playoffs? Nussmeier’s downfall started after they met Texas A&M. Fans thought he would bounce back against Alabama but things still did not go as per his plans; the situation got worse against the Gators. However, Brian Kelly backed him and remained committed to supporting him. And when we saw against Vanderbilt was quite something.

Brian Kelly’s offense bounced back in Tiger Stadium

LSU Tigers were struggling badly from the past few weeks and a comeback was needed to put a full stop to the hate coming their way. Nussmeier took the responsibility on his shoulders and represented the team in a good manner. Running back Josh Williams also displayed a strong performance and scored two running touchdowns, showcasing his speed and agility.

Brock Taylor kicked a 47-yard field goal on Vanderbilt’s first possession of the third quarter and LSU’s lead shrank to 14-10 with just 8:26 minutes remaining in the quarter. Nussmeier stood up and tried to shift the momentum with  his 12-yard touchdown pass to Kyren Lacy and improved the score to 21-10.

Head coach Kelly is impressed with his team’s comeback and reflects on how the teams handled the criticism and unwanted noise. “There was a lot of noise out there about LSU football and the indictments that were made so early in this program’s development,” he added. “The players didn’t listen to it; the coaches didn’t listen to it and I’m proud of them. The players took full accountability of what they wanted to do and they went out and did it.”

Fans are still disappointed with Kelly and his decision. Actually, the hatred increased when five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood, who was then an LSU commit, decided to flip and join Michigan. The college football playoffs are around the corner and it will be interesting to see if the Tigers can carry forward the momentum.

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