The most anticipated game of Week 1 in the college football season will take place on Sunday evening, when Florida State and LSU face off in Orlando in the only matchup between top 10 teams this week.
LSU coach Brian Kelly is entering just his second season with the Tigers, but he’s already very confident about his team. The 61-year-old went so far as to make a bold prediction about the program’s opening game despite having a bunch of roster turnover in the offseason.
“There are still areas that are going to need to be improved. We’re going to take 15 freshmen on this trip and 14 transfers so nearly 40% of this travel roster are going to go overnight for the first time with LSU. And that’s not a disclaimer of any kind, we’re going to beat the heck out of Florida State,” Kelly said on The Brian Kelly Show, via NoleGameday.
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Kelly seemed to use this guarantee as more of a way to talk up his team as opposed to talking down on the Seminoles, but the result was still a bold prediction. Additionally, though Kelly mentioned that the players still need development, he is very confident in how the team will look beyond the first game of the season.
“It’s pretty exciting from my perspective that where we sit here, going into year two, the future is pretty bright,” he said. “If I was buying a stock, I would buy some LSU football stock.”
LSU enters the season as the No. 5 ranked team in the country, but there are still two SEC teams ahead in the AP rankings in Georgia and Alabama. For LSU to make noise in the conference, the Tigers need to get off to a strong start vs. Florida State and live up to Kelly’s prediction.
