LSU HC Brian Kelly was right to defend his team in news conference

Brian Kelly isn't wrong to defend his team

This is a situation where, objectively speaking, nobody did anything wrong, even though the volume and temperature got raised a little bit. Does LSU have some concerns with its offense early in the season? It sure does because despite the 3-0 record, it has not scored more than 23 points in a single game. And it has not exactly been the most daunting schedule so far, with games against an obviously overranked Clemson team, Louisiana Tech and an unranked Florida team whose coach is fighting for his job. 

The Tigers have not been overly impressive offensively. It is fair to question that, even in victory. That should happen if you are looking at the team from a big-picture perspective.

But it is also fair for Kelly to passionately defend his team publicly because he's right; it did win the game. It did win an SEC game. And while its third-down offense was bad on Saturday, it was outstanding the previous week. Maybe Kelly could have done without the "you're spoiled" comment or demanding a different question, but he wasn't wrong to be annoyed with it in that moment.

It's also probably very likely that his message to his team this week in meetings and practice is going to be very different than his public message. He might still be concerned or recognize the Tigers have things to work on, but he's not going to put them on blast immediately after a win. Most coaches will not do that. 

Style points are so important in college football

What this entire sequence did do was highlight just how important style points are in college football. When you are dealing with a playoff system that has a selection committee and no set standard for what gets teams in, style points are going to matter. A lot. It's not just enough to simply win games. You have to win games the right way, by the right amount of points and look flawless in doing so. 

Sometimes that takes away from the simple joy of just winning a football game. Florida might not be an elite program, but it's not like LSU was playing an FCS team or a bad FBS program. It was still a tough SEC game and a legitimate win. Kelly wanted to celebrate it in that moment and simply didn't like his team being criticized immediately after the game.