The game was never pretty. Not for LSU or Florida State (with the exception of Ontaria Smith, of course).
And in the end, it was Florida State emerging from the dust with an insane, 24-23 victory over LSU in front of a packed-house at the Caesars Superdome. It included one of the clutchest 99-yard touchdown drives you'll ever see, and then one of the most painful blocked PATs of all time.
With all that in mind, here are my five quick takeaways from a disappointing first night of the Brian Kelly era.
JAYDEN DANIELS IS TOUGH TO GAUGE
On the one hand, he used his legs to the tune of 114 rushing yards and was the only viable offensive threat at points. He's electric with his legs -- no question.
On the other hand, how many times does it take the QB pulling the ball down and running before the receivers begin to get disengaged?
It sure felt like that's what happened on a should've-been-a-TD throw midway through the second quarter. Kayshon Boutte broke on the post and Daniels fired the ball in (a bit early, to be fair). But Boutte never looked back for the ball. The safety was there waiting to light him up, but it wasn't even a business decision. The ball hit Kayshon on the 7. He never saw it.
Boutte didn't have an All-American game. He dropped another pass in the third quarter, but he's still a weapon. He drew a key pass interference penalty on a had-to-have-it third quarter drive that kept the game in reach. He, Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas simply have to be more involved.
This is a team with some of the best playmakers in the nation. Regardless of overall team performance, that's always going to be true. Daniels' scrambling ability is a weapon, there's no denying it. But it has to be used in a way that also makes sure you're taking advantage of your other weapons. I don't think that was the case for long stretches on Sunday. That's going to have to change.
On the positive side, Daniels did come up big on a trio of second-half touchdown drives. He finished the game 26-39 for 209 yards and two touchdowns. He wasn't always as accurate as you'd like, but he did show nerves of steel.
The die was cast a bit early in this one, but LSU fought back. They fought ALLLLL the way back. Well, not if you count the PAT (which you have to), but there are positive things to build on -- as tough as those will be to stomach at this point.
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LINE WOES: OL
Twice in the first half LSU drove deep into Florida State territory, then shot itself in the foot.
The first instance came with a Garrett Dellinger snap that flew over Daniels' head. That meant a promising drive had to settle for a field goal, which was knocked through by Damian Ramos.
The second came a few drives later. RT Cam Wire was called for a false start that turned a 3rd and 6 into a 3rd and 11. LSU failed to convert and Ramos' kick was blocked.
There was at least one more high snap that Daniels managed to corral, and the OL struggled to block Florida State's hefty line group.
Wire also got beat clean off the edge against a 3-man rush with LSU making a last-gasp drive for an unbelievable comeback. It was one of four sacks surrendered on the evening.
The OL is a group that came in with serious questions, and they've still got some growth ahead. The silly mistakes can't continue.
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LINE WOES: DL
FINISH. LSU seemed to spend all day in the Florida State backfield, but the big plays didn't match up with that.
The Tigers finished the game with just 2 sacks. In fairness, a lot of that could be attributed to Jordan Travis, who played a phenomenal game and turned a lot of potential negative plays into throwaways or big third down conversions.
Either way, this group needs to affect the game more than it did today. Losing Maason Smith early on didn't help. He went back to the locker room with an injury and returned to the sideline in street clothes, a knee brace and crutches. His status will be important to watch. Ali Gaye was also ejected for targeting and will have to miss the first half of next week's game. It's against Southern, so the reserves should be able to handle that matchup.
But whether Smith is there or not, Travis' performance gave some unhealthy flashbacks to the 2021 Tigers' inability to bring down Bo Nix in similar circumstances. The Seminoles converted 11 of their 17 opportunities on the night. They started 6-for-7, at least three of which were 3rd-and-8 or longer. You won't win many games if you can't get off the field in those situations. LSU has to be better there.
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THE CORNERS SHOWED UP
OK, yes. Mekhi Garner (and basically everyone else) got eaten alive on a well-designed flea-flicker late in the first quarter.
Yes, Ontaria Wilson made another insane, one-handed touchdown grab in the third quarter over Jarrick Bernard-Converse.
But by and large I thought the cornerbacks held up well in one-on-one matchups and tackled well in space. A lot of plays got extended, and the team struggled to cover in the middle of the field, but Travis was laying dimes all over the place and the secondary was the only thing that prevented a lot more big plays.
That was the case when the Seminoles got a bit greedy on 4th-and-2 and attempted a fade that Sage Ryan ate up in one-on-one coverage. It was the case later in the quarter when LSU sent a zone blitz that got home and Garner made up for his earlier gaffe with a clean breakup that he nearly tipped to himself for a score.
Colby Richardson also had a nice pass defensed on a deep ball that could've resulted in a touchdown.
There were a fair number of struggle points, particularly when it came to third and long, but there's a lot of groups I'm worried about on this LSU team, and corner isn't one of them.
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SPECIAL TEAMS WASN'T SPECIAL
Full disclosure: I'd already written this note prior to the 4th quarter disaster from Malik and Damian. So instead of rewriting ... I'll just say, yea, that was rough.
It all started so well. Damian Ramos knocked through a 36-yard kick on the opening drive.
Jay Bramblett sent his first punt in an LSU uniform 55 yards. Things felt solid.
All of a sudden, they didn't. After another drive stalled deep in Florida State territory, Ramos took the field again for a 30-yard chip shot. The Seminoles blocked it.
Bramblett's next punt was shanked and only traveled 31 yards before it flew out of bounds.
After a rare stand on third down that forced a Florida State punt, Malik Nabers put the ball on the ground and Florida State came out of the pile with the ball.
In the 4th quarter, the movie repeated itself. Nabers muffed a punt, and Ramos had a PAT blocked that would've tied the game with the clock showing zeros.
This team has enough questions on offense and defense to keep Brian Kelly busy, it can't afford for special teams to be a question, too.
LAGNIAPPE: I don't know what it is about the Superdome ... but man, the losses here are especially rough. This one is no exception. Hindsight is 20/20, but Brian Kelly is probably ruing his decision not to go for 2 and the win. ... Shoutout to Jaray Jenkins. He had a quiet game overall, but came up massive with touchdowns on LSU's final two drives, including the score that appeared to tie the game until it... didn't.