Brian Kelly knows what LSU needs under the lights at Tiger Stadium on Saturday night against Alabama.
He also knows what it'll take to get it.
"That stadium, it should be electric," Kelly said. "But it's only going to be electric if we play well. It's gonna be quiet if we don't play well."
Quiet is a relative term when it comes to a crowd of 100,000. Even a bummed-out Tiger Stadium will make its share of noise against Alabama, but Kelly knows his team could very much use a significant home-field advantage if they can get it against the heavily favored Tide.
It'll also be the first major game played under the lights at Tiger Stadium with Kelly as head coach. LSU faced off with Tennessee and Ole Miss with mid-day kickoffs. The opener against Florida State was played at the Caesars Superdome. The lone night kickoff came against Southern, a game LSU led 37-0 after the first quarter.
Kelly's Tigers have proven adept at quieting loud SEC atmospheres on the road. They also prompted a field-storming under the sun with a dominating win over Ole Miss. Now it's time to see if they can keep their own stadium loud under the lights.
"I told them, 'Look, you did a pretty good job of quieting the crowd at Auburn. You did a pretty good job of quieting the crowd at Florida because you played well and the opposing team didn't," Kelly said. "So if you want this crowd to be in your favor, we got to go out and play well. And, you know, I've said this many times it's a privilege to play in these kinds of opportunity games, you know, against an Alabama, but you gotta go do something about it."
MORE FROM BRIAN KELLY
HEALTH UPDATE
Offensive lineman Garrett Dellinger will not play against Alabama. Kelly told the media that he is back healthy from the knee injury that cost him back-to-back games, but he is not ready to play. Dellinger also missed three games earlier in the season due to a broken hand.
ON ELI RICKS/EMOTION
LSU fans will likely recognize Eli Ricks when he arrives Saturday in a Crimson Tide uniform, but how will his former teammates respond? Kelly said it's not really a subject he's addressed with his players because he knows they'll handle it the right way.
"Our guys are so much more focused on what they need to do and how they need to play more than, you know, any former of relationships that they've had with players, to be quite frank," Kelly said. "And I'm sure Coach [Nick] Saban is the same way. This is much more about being in the right emotional zone when you play the game, and being locked-in and focused. So our guys hear that from me all the time. And I'm pretty certain that that's how it's going to be played."
ON PREPARING TO FACE BRYCE YOUNG
"I don't know that you can prepare anybody for a quarterback like Bryce Young. ... You know, the One thing that I think you got to be careful with is you're trying to make a big play on him and he makes you look silly. We need to get the ball out of his hand."
