LSU donned its “1-0” mantra on pregame T-shirts this past weekend that garnered a wave of social media attention prior kickoff at Clemson.
And, with that goal accomplished in Week 1, coach Brian Kelly’s squad has another straightforward goal in mind for Week 2 against Louisiana Tech: go 1-0.
“We certainly feel great about what we accomplished,” the coach said. “But our mantra this year is 1-0, so we celebrated that win 24 hours, we came in had recovery on Sunday and Monday we went back to work and put that behind us and focused on Louisiana Tech. And we want to go 1-0. And we have to replicate all of the things that we did to get to 1-0, and that goal for us will be the same.”
The Tigers authored arguably the nation’s most impressive win of the first full weekend of college football season, going to No. 4 Clemson and dominating the second half for the lone road upset of a top-10 team in Week 1.
Defensive back Mansoor Delane, a transfer from Virginia Tech, said as exciting as that accomplishment was, the team has far a far bigger goal — and that focus on each step is critical to end the season where LSU hopes to.
“It was just a step in the main goal,” said Delane, who was named the Bednarik Award National Player of the Week for his performance. “And I feel like you can’t really get caught into just one victory like that, because, yeah, it’s a great win for the program, but that’s not the goal that we’re out here aspiring for. Because if you’re aspiring to win at Clemson, then you’re gonna come in today complacent and not looking to get better and whatnot.
“So if your goal is to win a championship, you’re always gonna have that mindset to keep going, keep pushing yourself to be better. And, like I said, this week we’re on to LA Tech, so Clemson is in the past and we’re ready to keep on the road to win a national championship.”
Goal-setting “1-0 this week” is a common practice in football utilized by teams at all levels.
And Kelly said the decision to wear the shirts was made in no small part because of the trust in his players’ mentality.
“You know, we put ourselves out there, and, look, sometimes you’ve gotta go out on the limb,” he said. “And some say it’s not smart. I knew the team that we had, and I knew it was a mature enough team that we could put that on them regardless of what the outcome would be. And we knew 1-0 was going to be where we wanted to be.”
Kelly and veteran linebacker West Weeks both explained that any chatter or reaction that the slogan or the T-shirts specifically was targeted at only the season opener or at only Clemson had misunderstood the bigger-picture intention.
“That’s what it’s always been,” Weeks said. “I know a lot of people outside of the building kind of thought it was, like, ‘Alright, we just want to win the first game,’ but for us it’s 1-0 every week. So you we had our 24 hours to celebrate the win. Now it’s on to the next opponent.”
Kelly pointed out the Tigers don’t have to look far to identify an example of an instance in which they did not compartmentalize and focus as effectively as they should have.
LSU went back and forth with Nicholls State for two and a half quarters a year ago nearly to the day of Saturday’s home opener against Louisiana Tech.
The Tigers needed a score just before halftime to extend their lead to nine points, then allowed a long run early in the third before finally locking down and closing the game with 21 unanswered points.
“Tt’s a good question,” Kelly said when asked about ensuring the focus would translate to a less high-profile opponent, “because we didn’t do that against Nicholls State last year. And so we’ve talked about that. There’s a standard of playing football here at LSU, and that’s the standard that we’re gonna have to play when we go every time on that field. Every Saturday, there’s a standard. And our guys know what the standard is.”
Veteran offensive lineman Josh Thompson, a transfer from Northwestern, said the culture, standard and goals of the LSU program were critical in his decision to sign with the Tigers over a long list of other options.
And, as clearly excited as he was celebrating postgame at Clemson, he said his goal since childhood has been to win a national championship and that the team is locked in on the next step on that path.
“Our opponents are nameless, and they’re faceless,” he said. “We’re focused on us and our process. And it was great to start a season 1-0, but we’re on to La Tech. Our goal is to go 1-0 this week, and our focus is on us. And we’re going into this game with that same mentality as last week.”
