Interviews & Reaction to LSU’s win vs. Clemson | ESPN College Football

LSU’s Brian Kelly and Garrett Nussmeier speak after beating Clemson, 17-10, in a Week 1 game featuring a pair of top-10 teams. Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit give their thoughts on the game and give their outlooks for the teams moving forward.

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Coach, your defense with a crucial fourth down stop to seal this game. How did they change this entire game for you tonight? Well, obviously, you know, you you have to, you know, put the first half behind you and we talked about we just got to be cleaner in the second half and I thought we did a great job. Uh we pressured uh Cade when he got outside the pocket. We were on body. Look, this is a hard place to play. I This is a top five team on the road. Uh and and our guys were down at half and they don’t lose when they’re up at half and and our guys persevered. Uh great character. Look, I could talk about a million things, but it’s individuals and these players refused to do anything else but find a way to win and I’m so proud of him. Yeah, speaking of that, your quarterback Garrett Nusmire, what did you think of his composure tonight when it mattered most? It was great. He was he was under duress and pressure and it’s a really good football team. It’s a really good defense. That’s a top five team in the country and you go on the road and win. You have to have your individuals play with composure and and I love their composure tonight. We got a little sloppy in the first half. We put that behind us, forgot about it, and came back and played a great second half. A huge season opening win for you guys, coach. What kind of statement did you make about this year’s LSU football team? That we got to 1 and0. I mean, it is a long season. I mean, this is a journey and this wasn’t our destination. We have to play better, but this is a great challenge. That’s why I love playing games like this on the road uh against a top five team. It just gets you better for the rest of the season. All right, congratulations, coach. Thank you. Well, we’re busy hydrating over here. That tells me you really left it all out on the field. How hard was it tonight to get this win? Man, first off, I just want to give all glory to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I mean, look how good God is. I mean, it’s unbelievable. I mean, we’ve been working our tails off for the last six months and I’m just so proud of my group and and man, I not a lot of words, just just excitement. You’ve been working so hard to improve your decision- making, have composure in tough moments tonight when your back was against the wall. How did that serve you well? Yeah, I I think it helped a lot. I mean, you know, it was a sloppy football game for us as an offense. Obviously, it’s not something that uh we’re extremely excited about. You know, we turned the ball over early and we shot ourselves in the foot a couple times, but uh I think it was just a great team win. And and how about our defense? I mean, sticking up for us. I mean, allowing 10 points to one of the better offenses in the country. I’m just so proud of those guys and uh I’m excited for our offense to get to work and get get things right. That last play, Harold Perkins, he’s just Yes, sir. He’s just off an ACL tear and he makes that play. What does that mean to the team and this brotherhood? It means everything. I mean, Perk is an unbelievable football player. Um and so for for him to be able to be in the position to make that play. I’m just so happy for him and uh so proud of him as a player and uh nothing much to be said. I mean, our defense did an unbelievable job tonight. I’m looking at the sign that says Clemson welcomes you to Death Valley. What right does this win give you to say that it’s really in Baton Rouge? Man, I can’t wait to get on the plane and head back to Death Valley, baby. Let’s do it. [Applause] Yeah, he’s all smiles. Hardfought game. Avoided the interception. That was a key thing coming in. He had a bunch of them last year. Didn’t make that kind of mistake tonight. Protection held up pretty well. It did. Offensive line played well. You can see the presence. Really made some adjustments in the second half. Got the ball out anticipating on the throws when he had time. And I think the receivers settled in, especially Aaron Anderson. And how about the ball placement? Right where it has to be to the big tight end at 67 with that advantage. Those points proved to be the difference in his football game. And you can see that it’s that’s that’s a lot of juice right there, man. Love that. This is why he came back for this kind of moment right there. He is fired up. They’re 1 and0 for the first time in six years at LSU. And he’s been there for all those other ones. first time under Brian Kelly. It’s August, man. Obviously, a loss doesn’t knock you out of a 12 team bracket, but you can see what it means to begin the kind of season with momentum. As Brian Kelly said, they got a gauntlet of games ahead. This isn’t going to define success, but it’s a strong statement that this LSU team is different than recent. They are. I just, man, it’s just we’ve missed college football. It’s just so great that it’s back. Uh, first for LSU, the defense was an issue last year for Blake Baker. He I say he had one hand tied behind his back. They made some adjustments. Got went to the portal, got some guys. You’re right. This is a different team. Defense has improved. Uh a big win with a big stop when they needed it late in the game. Something they struggled with a year ago. Offensive line, four new starters in this environment. To me, that’s a check mark. They played incredibly well. And they made the adjustments with Joe Sloan as an offense. Like Garrett just said, it wasn’t perfect, but it was what they needed to do to get out of here with the win. This is a huge win for them to jump start them into a very difficult gauntlet of a season and schedule. But man, this is this feels good for them and they’re going to be a fun team to watch this year. And for Clemson, far from out of it. They take a loss. Oh yeah. One more non-conference game, then eight straight ACC games. They’ll be favored. But tonight on the bio, as they say, Leontam Rule, let the good times roll as LSU comes to Clemson’s Death Valley and walks out with a very, very hard-fought 17-10 victory. They hold Clemson at 261 yds. Perkins makes the final play to seal it. You want this, you got that. No way. Watch them walk right past you. Run fast. Run fast while you have the chance. Don’t speak. I’m going to cry at