No. 5 LSU football was feeling confident heading into Sunday's matchup against No. 8 Florida State. So confident, in fact, that coach Brian Kelly said earlier in the week that “we're gonna beat the hell out of FSU.”

Well, Kelly and the Tigers couldn't back up that talk in the game itself. After leading by three at halftime, LSU collapsed in the second half and fell 45-24 in embarrassing fashion. After generating momentum late last season and through the offseason, this loss comes as a major disappointment for the Tigers.

There's plenty of blame to go around for this loss, but a few key figures bear the brunt of it. With that said, here are three Tigers most to blame for their blowout loss to the Seminoles.

3. Jayden Daniels

Daniels, one of the Heisman favorites heading into the season, had a decent game on paper. He completed 22-of-37 passes for 347 yards, one touchdown and an interception while adding 64 rushing yards on 15 carries. In context, though, Daniels' performance becomes much less impressive.

First of all, Daniels gained 75 yards and his lone touchdown on a pass to Brian Thomas Jr. late in the fourth quarter, when the game was already long over so it hardly even mattered. Secondly, Daniels took four sacks on the night, which is probably more of an offensive line problem but still not a great look for him. Third, his performance gradually got worse as the game went on. When the game began to snowball in Florida State's favor, Daniels couldn't break LSU out of it and made it worse, if anything.

Unsurprisingly, Daniels' Heisman odds took a massive hit in this game. There's still time for him to right the ship, but the margin of error for both him and LSU football just became non-existent.

2. Harold Perkins Jr.

Toward the end of last season, Perkins became the star player for a solid LSU defense. The former five-star recruit finished his freshman season with a team-high 7.5 sacks and earned First-Team All-SEC honors. Going into his second season, expectations were exceptionally high for the New Orleans native.

However, Perkins was largely a non-factor in Sunday's loss. He had five total tackles including two solo, but more importantly, had no sacks or tackles for loss. LSU's defense ran out of gas late in the game, and Perkins just wasn't there to spark the unit.

All that said, it's hard to blame Perkins too much for this performance. Rather than capitalizing on his strengths as a pass-rusher, the Tigers' coaching staff confusingly decided to use him almost entirely as an off-ball linebacker instead. His primary role was being the spy for FSU quarterback Jordan Travis, when he really should've been rushing far more often. On the few occasions where he did rush, Perkins looked just as natural as ever.

Perkins' placement on this list is more to do with the coaching staff's misuse rather than his own struggles. Speaking of which…

1. Brian Kelly

The LSU head coach is a controversial figure among college football fans. He has won pretty much everywhere he has been, but his more abrasive style is very off-putting to some. After Sunday's showing, those detractors are back and potentially louder than ever.

Simply put, Florida State's Mike Norvell coached circles around Kelly in the second half. The Seminoles came out of the locker room looking completely refreshed, while the Tigers came out looking lethargic and lifeless. That disparity only became more apparent as the game went on, and Kelly was unable to snap his team out of it.

His in-game performance is one thing, but Kelly didn't make any friends after the game either. In his postgame press conference, Kelly essentially threw his players under the bus for underperforming while taking little responsibility himself.

“This is a total failure from a coaching standpoint and a player standpoint that we have to obviously address and we have to own,” Kelly said, per ESPN. “I know adversity is always going to strike at some time in this game, and this is our first real piece of adversity that we have to address. I'm confident our guys and our coaches will rally in the manner that they need to.”

Unfortunately, this has been a trend throughout Kelly's coaching career. If anything, the fact that he even said “from a coaching standpoint” at all is a step in the right direction. Still, it's not a good look at all for a coach after a blowout loss, especially one with Kelly's track record.

Now, Kelly's Tigers must once again overcome a season-opening loss to achieve their lofty goals this season. That eventually proved to be too much for them last year, and only time will tell if this year is any different.