USC outlasts LSU in Week 1 opener, is Brian Kelly already on the hotseat? | Yahoo Sports

[Music] we just had so much fun on the Saturday reaction show of the college football Power Hour that we are back for more after what I think is going to be one of the games of the season after week one LSU in USC in Las Vegas the Trojans take this one 27 to2 and there were a lot of questions about both of these teams Fitz and Adam were a lot of questions about the quarterback you know you lose Caleb Williams and Jaden Daniels on both sides Trophy winning quarterbacks what do Miller moss and Garrett NM USC and LSU respectively how do they take over these starting roles and also historically bad defenses on both sides last season both LSU and USC move on for their defensive coordinators completely new lck defenses this year that we saw on full display but like I said the Trojans take this one LSU starts 0 And1 for the fifth consecutive season Fitz will start with you some of your biggest takeaways from a little battle in the desert we're not getting I mean that that that hurts your soul to say this right like the only one for you is I mean let's just get start rip the bandaid it is you know what it does suck Fitz let me turn put my uh my purple and gold glasses on really quickly as an alumni of Louisiana State University yeah it tastes like vinegar coming out of my mouth I will say that I I this is what really blew me away because you mentioned two new quarterbacks and over the course of the weekend Adam I felt like we saw a lot of quarterbacks that got their moment and they weren't necessarily ready in this game I thought we saw two quarterbacks that frankly looked like they were ready for the moment they looked like they were ready for the game both of them looked more capable than I expected so I was really impressed by how high the level of play was from both of them you hit a spot on Fitz I think the interesting part about nus Meyer and Miller Moss is there are great stories in college football of sticking it out when you didn't have to stick it out in today's day and age where every quarterback wants to leave transfer go find another opportunity these guys sat and waited for years uh that is not common in college football uh I think for Brian Kelly and and for for Lincoln Riley one of the best recruiting jobs those guys have done is keep them on their roster throughout the throughout the last couple years so these two guys are both really veteran quarterbacks who are playing their first start uh I or you know Miller Moss started the bowl game but their first big time regular season game yeah real start and I thought they both played lights out I mean it was it was really a fun game to watch um obviously at the end the thing that won that game for USC is that two-minute Drive and Miller Moss executed it perfectly I mean that that is textbook two-minute drive to go win the game it's exactly what you want Miller Moss was poised uh he got the ball to the sideline uh the the uh the ability to to I think communicate with Lincoln Riley during that drive um you know that that's the part that I that I don't think fans quite realize how important that helmet communication is on those two-minute drives I guarantee you Lincoln Riley's telling Miller Moss hey you can't take a sack here hey get this ball to the sideline hey hey look at Jobe Lane on this play like he's talking to him right before the ball is being snapped cuz they're going fast and they're not you the the the headsets on the whole time so I think that helps a lot especially for a firsttime quarterback but Miller M executed in the biggest moments and uh I think show he's he's going to be one of the best quarterbacks in the Big 10 this season yeah and Caroline I would also say you mentioned the defense we have to get both defenses a lot of credit in this game right like both of these defenses came out far better than I expected and I've heard a lot about USC adding 1,400 lb to be ready for Big 10 football but frankly they looked ready for Big 10 football like I I do think as much as we joke about it Caroline the defenses were much better in this game than we expected much much improved and you saw kind of instant change and instant upgrades for both defenses you I I noticed several times you know on the USC side the pressure that they were able to get up front U wanted to run the ball a whole lot more than they did but USC wasn't going to let him and on the other side you got a ton of pressure on Miller Moss that were in his face a good bit of the second half so those aren't things that we saw from either of these teams last season and frankly if you know I would have taken an nap throughout the entire second half which if anybody in America did you would have missed out a lot of good football but if you would have told me that LSU won that game or USC won that game based off of what we saw in the first half frankly I wouldn't have been surprised because we got a master class in quarterback play from really both Miller moss and Garrett nus Meer a certain sense of poise that I don't think you see very often in firsttime starters but I think the difference between USC and LSU and a very closely contested game that in the second half whenever LSU started to build momentum whether it was Defensive stops or picking up big first downs here and there they couldn't build upon it whereas when USC was able to pick up some first downs they were able to piece together chunk play after chunk play and just kind of wear away at that LSU defense in the second half where LSU offense was kind of hard to come by later in that second half yeah I I think too this is a completely different looking USC program with the defensive side of the ball than what we've seen and they you just mentioned those critical moments when LSU got some momentum USC USC was able to get some stops and that that is not common for USC in the last couple years and I I think we really got to give Lincoln riy Credit for how he rebuilt this defense in the off season I mean Lincoln Riley fires one of his best friends last year Alex Grinch who's been his defensive coordinator for a long time it was tough for him to move on clearly because people thought he should have done it for the last few years and and didn't um and then goes out and makes two huge hires and D Lynn and Eric Henderson as his co-defensive coordinators D Lynn comes from UCLA uh obviously a great play caller about what we saw on on on film today uh but it this looks like a completely different USC defense they look physical they look like they're ready for the big moment they look like they're dominating at the point of attack uh and that is not the USC program we've we've SE seen it wasn't the USC program we saw under Klay hton it wasn't USC program we saw the last two years under Lincoln Riley and uh and I think it's it's exciting for USC fans especially as you move to the Big 10 where football's more physical to kind of have this new this new shot at life for the physicality of the USC football program well and USC I can't believe I'm saying this is actually a little under the radar through the P process of this conversation we've been so obsessed with Oregon going in and what Oregon looks like if you're USC I don't think people have been paying that same level of attention so it gives you the opportunity now if you're USC you turn around and you say hey we're we're flying under the radar a little bit we don't have the same level of pressure and they do look like they're ready to compete at that level so I I think the Big 10 got a lot more interesting and you know Adam you said in yesterday's show the big 10's the deepest conference I kept watching the USC and thinking man that proves your point I think too Fitz when you look at USC's schedule throughout the rest of the year one of the reasons they haven't gotten that that much excitement is because of how brutal their schedule is I mean having to play LSU week one the as we saw tonight having to play Notre Dame Ben the season having to play Penn State having to play Michigan uh it's it's not an easy Road for them the the path to the playoff isn't super clear as I was watching them play the USC looks better than I thought and I I kept thinking to myself how does USC make the playoff how do they possibly win the Big 10 the path is tough right to to have to go play Penn State and Michigan and the end the season playing Notre Dame it's not clear but I will say there is a lot of momentum and excitement around USC and I think rightfully so I think you got to give Lincoln Riley credit and uh and if they can find a way to win a couple of those big games and if Miller Moss plays the plays the way he played today in the biggest moments they're gonna they're going to knock some of those teams off they're going to win a game against pen State another Dame and then depending how the big 10 plays off plays out all bets are off um but Caroline I got to ask you so is is Brian Kelly on the Caroline Hot Seat now after this loss so I will say this the uh if if anyone's unfamiliar with the LSU fan base uh very very short fuse and very very high expectations which leads to a coach's shelf life in Bat Rouge being about that of like an avocado um awfully short so yes the Twitter Brigade of LSU is coming for Brian Kelly's job and look I I he's not in the hot seat okay Brian Kelly is not getting fired because he lose to USC week one after back-to-back 10 win Seasons getting to the SEC Championship in year one and having a Heisman Trophy winner in year two but there is a really really high level of frustration around LSU fans for losing this game every single year and look this was a game that LSU absolutely could have won and it's little mistakes and shooting yourself in the foot whether it was you know the the silly penalty that Kyon Lacy took after a great catch in the end zone whether it was the targeting call in LSU safety Jordan Gilbert where that was essentially ended the game right there uh a lot of just sloppy penalties that set LSU back behind the eightball so no he's not on on the Caroline hot seat and yes you're going to hear that from a lot of LSU fans just out of this certain sense of frustration but with LSU and year three under Brian Kelly with everything that he's already achieved now the expectation is college football playoff now that the field has expanded that's exactly where LSU fans expect to be is in that conversation and frankly I know it's week one but Falling 0 and one I don't see a path to LSU getting into the college football playoff with the gauntlet that they have ahead of them but it's so early it's Silver Lining though is the way that Garrett nesme looked the Silver Lining isn't just that I mean we can't have our cake and eat it here too I just said that I think USC looks far more competitive in the Big 10 than I thought they would be so unless you just lost a game to what looks like a very good football team that they could have won be it two or three plays go differently like I think that's the context that really matters here your quarterback played better than you expected you competed in a neutral sight game against the great opponent like this guy is not falling we talk about like stock up stock down I wouldn't suddenly be selling LSU at him simply because they lost a game to a good football team this wasn't a bad loss this was one of those epic games that we'll look at as a building block if things go better the rest of the season yeah I I I think that the one of the most frustrating things for LSU fans just has to be how you lost that game and the reason why you lost it I mean the reason why is is you look at the stat Street you lost a turnover battle and lost the penalty battle big time I think 10 penalties for LSU today that that's why you lost and for Brian Kelly you know that is what he's going to say is that's unacceptable for his program to lose a penalty battle the way they did you mentioned the penalty the 15 y Caroline like like that kind of stuff in Brian Kelly's program is shouldn't fly and isn't going to fly moving forward so also uh USC did not manage that game super well I mean there were there were times in that game I mean you go go back to halftime uh the the drive before halftime USC mismanaged the clock went to halftime with a timeout in their pocket and missed a field goal and then also had the first drive of the of of the second half and went three and out uh so when those two sequences happened I was like man USC is not going to win this game um and to still come back and win it says a lot about USC and M Moss but also it's frustrating for LSU fans final thought on on LSU is and you just mentioned Carolina the excitement around Garrett nus me I think people forget that Garrett nus was in a neck-to-neck quarterback competition with Jayden Daniels um very recently the Heisman Trophy winner uh going to be a star in the NFL I mean nus Meer is a dong and he showed it to today uh just the I thought the way he managed the game he looked he looked confident he was poised he was making quick decisions but he wasn't rushing his decisions I thought I just thought he looked really good even better than I thought he was going to look and I kind of had to remind myself that this was the Garrett nus me that everyone's been waiting to see the last few years that was neck to neck with Jayden Daniels um and I think it's going to going to have a a Big Time season for LSU what we just learned is we need a new segment on the show called puppies or dogs like so we we figure out whether or not they're actually dogs or they just that's all I can think of that I like that uh to take LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker's term poodles you're either a dog or you're a poodle and he said we don't want any poodles around here on on the LSU defense before we wrap here we can't end this show without giving Kiren Hudson at least a little bit of a hat tip that we've got the catch of the year I'm calling it now it's the catch of the Year early in that game one-handed grab doing his best obj impression really impressive wide receiver performances from both sides Ken Hudson Zachariah Branch at USC and kyen Lacy and Aaron Anderson from LSU Hudson's catch early in the game was unbelievable but the most impactful catch was that catch on the two-minute drive on the in the the whole shot I mean that was a perfect throw by Miller Moss it was it was cover two where you got the corner playing the flat the safety playing over top and you have about a foury window to put that ball in and Hudson made a great catch on that but I mean just think about USC's receiver room you just said some of those names how about Zachariah Branch almost housing that kickoff return I mean that dude can absolutely fly there's a lot of Talent on this on this USC roster this USC skill position group and you know again I think USC's offense is going to be going to be a threat this season in in the Big 10 I think my biggest takeaway from this game Fitz you and I were talking about before this season teams that might be overrated or underrated I thought USC was overrated because I didn't buy in to the defensive upgrades we saw it on full display tonight that defense very much so is upgraded and looks at least to be big 10 ready fun little Sunday edition of the college football Power Hour he is Jason Fitz that is Adam brenaman and I am Caroline Fenton USC takes it in Vegas 27 to2 over the LSU Tigers we will be back here Tuesday night Wednesday morning we'll have a look ahead to week two and recap our final thoughts from week one find us right here on Yahoo sports YouTube or wherever you get your podcast it's the college football Power Hour and we are out