Brian Kelly reveals efforts LSU football made for Maason Smith to play vs. Florida State
BATON ROUGE – LSU football made numerous appeals to the NCAA and attempted to schedule a game in Week Zero as last-second efforts to have star defensive tackle Maason Smith available for the Tigers' Week 1 matchup against Florida State in Orlando (6:30 p.m., ABC), coach Brian Kelly told Yahoo Sports on Friday.
"We looked at every imaginable option, but time ran out," Kelly said.
Smith was suspended by the NCAA for one game for receiving an improper benefit. The improper benefit, according to Yahoo Sports, was an autograph signing Smith participated in that took place just one month prior to the legalization of NIL.
Kelly revealed to Yahoo Sports that LSU made at least two appeals to the NCAA regarding Smith's suspension. The NCAA also rejected the eventual legalization of NIL as a reasoning from LSU for one of its appeals, telling the school that there was no "grandfather clause" when it came to this case, Kelly said.
The alternative plan, to schedule a Week Zero game, was attempted so that Smith could serve his suspension during the Week Zero game instead of Week 1, presuming the NCAA would have allowed LSU to do that.
“Once it came down, we were looking if we could pick the game [in which to use the suspension]. Is there an option to do that? A lot of those appeals were exhausted, and we were left with the eventual one-game suspension," Kelly said.
Smith tore his ACL on the opening series of last year's season opener against Florida State in New Orleans while celebrating a play made by a teammate. A former five-star recruit, Smith was the No. 1 prospect in Louisiana's 2021 class before recording four sacks in seven games as a freshman.
Smith was expected to make his return from the injury in Orlando next Sunday. Instead, he'll have to wait until Week 2 when the Tigers return home to face Grambling State.
“The appeals didn’t turn out in our favor, and we are going to abide by the ruling,” Kelly said. “We accept the ruling. We’re going to move on and get ready for Florida State.”
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Koki Riley covers LSU sports for The Daily Advertiser. Email him at kriley@theadvertiser.com and follow him on Twitter at @KokiRiley
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU football, Brian Kelly attempts for Maason Smith to play vs. FSU
