‘Angry’ Kelly slams fist on table after LSU loss

Published

11 months ago

September 2, 2024

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Paolo Uggetti, ESPNSep 1, 2024, 11:45 PM ET

LAS VEGAS — Brian Kelly slammed his left fist down on the press conference table so hard his water bottle nearly toppled over.

After No. 13 LSU held a four-point lead with just under six minutes left in their season opener and lost 27-20 to No. 23 USC, Kelly didn’t hold back when discussing his frustrations.

“We had some guys play their butts off tonight and we’re sitting here again, we’re sitting here again talking about the same things!” Kelly said as he slammed the table. “About not finishing when you have an opponent in a position to put them away. But what we’re doing on the sideline is feeling like the game is over.”

Kelly said this is the first time during his time at LSU where he’s been “angry” at his team and added that they lacked a “killer instinct.”

“I’m so angry about it that I’ve got to do something about it. I’m not doing a good enough job as a coach,” Kelly said. “I’ve got to coach them better because it’s unacceptable for us not to have found a way to win this football game. It’s ridiculous. It’s crazy.”

Despite totaling 421 yards of offense and controlling the time of possession by six minutes, Kelly’s team failed to capitalize. Their first drive of the game traveled 74 yards on 13 plays in over seven minutes yet it resulted in zero points. Though they trailed for most of the first half, LSU was able to grab the lead twice in the third quarter.

“Unfortunately, it’s clear that, when we get up in a game, we do not know how to handle ourselves,” Kelly said. “You’ve got to put teams away. We had an opportunity to put this team away. We get complacent, we make more mistakes when we’re ahead instead of having a, you know, better focus and a steely-eyed, killer instinct. That’s disappointing.”

To Kelly’s point, the Tigers had 10 penalties for 99 yards to the Trojans’ six and a few occurred in crucial moments. On USC’s game-winning drive, a targeting penalty on LSU put the Trojans inside the red zone where they promptly scored the winning score with eight seconds left.

It wasn’t just penalties that put LSU in a position to come up short. Their ground game also struggled. Earlier in the week, LSU offensive lineman Will Campbell had said the Tigers would run the ball against the Trojans.

“That’s not something we’re trying to keep quiet,” Campbell said Tuesday. “I’m telling everybody right now. We’re going to run the football.”

By the end of the night, however, LSU only had 117 yards on the ground and had to rely on quarterback Garrett Nussmeier to fuel their offense. Nussmeier nearly did, throwing for over 300 yards and two touchdowns, but after scoring the go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter, LSU’s offense stalled and allowed USC’s new-look defense under defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn to keep the Trojans in the game with several key third-down stops.

“They had every right to be confident,” Lincoln Riley said of LSU’s offensive line. “But so did we. We just didn’t talk about it in the media.”

Of the 13 third downs the Tigers faced, they only converted a first down five times. Once they scored a go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter, the next four LSU drives resulted in two punts, a field goal and an interception by Nussmeier that sealed the result.

“For us to be the kind of football team I want, we have to eliminate the foolish mistakes,” Kelly said. “Finally, we have to be able to play off of each other much better.”

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Rodriguez makes history with another 20-20 year

Published

7 hours ago

August 4, 2025

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Rodriguez makes history with another 20-20 year

ESPN News Services

Aug 3, 2025, 07:04 PM ET

SEATTLE — Julio Rodriguez homered to become the first player in major league history with 20 or more home runs and 20 or more stolen bases in each of his first four seasons, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers 5-4 on Sunday.

Rodriguez hit a two-run shot in the third inning — his 100th career homer — and the slugging and speedy center fielder also added his 21st stolen base of the season after singling in the fifth inning.

“That’s a very big accomplishment,” Rodríguez told reporters, according to MLB.com. “I know my family’s very happy, and I’m sure they’re thinking of all the things I had to do to be able to get here. To be able to do it with this team and this organization is awesome. I’m just excited to see where things are going to go from here.”

Jorge Polanco added a solo shot in the second, and shortstop J.P. Crawford smacked a two-run blast in the fourth against Rangers starter Jacob deGrom (10-4), who became the fastest pitcher in major league history to reach 1,800 career strikeouts by games and innings Sunday.

The Rangers kept things close by pushing across three runs against Mariners starter Logan Evans (5-4), but tallied only one run against the Mariners bullpen before closer Andrés Muñoz locked down his 25th save of the season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Marlins def. Yankees, earn 1st-ever sweep of N.Y.

Published

12 hours ago

August 4, 2025

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Marlins def. Yankees, earn 1st-ever sweep of N.Y.

ESPN News Services

Aug 3, 2025, 04:55 PM ET

MIAMI — Kyle Stowers hit a three-run homer and the Miami Marlins defeated the New York Yankees 7-3 on Sunday, completing their first-ever sweep of the Yankees in a series of three or more games.

The Marlins (55-55) reached .500 for the first time since April 15, when the team was 8-8. Since June 13, the Marlins are 30-14; that’s tied with the 2003 team for the most wins in a 44-game span in franchise history, according to ESPN Research.

The 2003 Marlins went on to beat the Yankees in the World Series in six games.

Marlins starter Edward Cabrera (5-5) pitched six innings of two-hit ball with seven strikeouts and one walk. His only blemish came against the first batter he faced. Trent Grisham drove Cabrera’s 98.1 mph four-seam fastball to right-center.

Miami rookie Jakob Marsee, who made his major league debut on Friday, was 2-for-4 and finished a single short of the cycle.

Stowers made it 6-1 when he connected on an 0-2 fastball from Brent Headrick, who entered in the fourth with two on after starter Luis Gil (0-1) was lifted 3⅓ innings into his season debut.

Gil, the reigning AL Rookie of the Year, struck out three and surrendered five runs and five hits while issuing four walks in his return from a high-grade lat strain. He threw 77 pitches.

Gil’s shaky debut comes at a rough point in the season for the Yankees, whose inconsistency has prompted a rash of criticism, the latest coming from former Yankees stars Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez on Fox’s pregame show Saturday night.

“They make way too many mistakes,” Jeter said. “Way too many mistakes, and you can’t get away with making that number of mistakes against great teams.”

Added Rodriguez: “Where’s the accountability?”

Boone addressed those criticisms before Sunday’s game, saying it comes with the territory of being the Yankees, but he added after the loss that it’s “gut-check” time for his club.

New York’s weekend series at Miami included the Yankees blowing a six-run lead in a wild 13-12 loss on Friday, before a 2-0 loss on Saturday.

The Yankees had a seven-game lead in the AL East in late May. By July 2, the lead was gone and the Yankees have been looking up at Toronto in the division ever since. The red-hot Boston Red Sox, who were more than 10 games behind the Yankees about two months ago, have overtaken their rival for the second spot in the AL East and AL wild-card lead.

“It’s getting late,” Boone said. “And it’s certainly not too late for us. I am confident that we’re going to get it together. But that’s all it is right now is, you know, it’s empty until we start doing it.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.