Brian Kelly needs some help with his sideline awareness.
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect / Reuters)
Brian Kelly is taking some hits.
The LSU head coach got steamrolled on the sideline Saturday night for a second time this season during his Tigers’ 20-10 win over SEC rival Florida. He came away from the hit OK.
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The incident took place late in the first half with LSU driving into field goal range. After the whistle on a 6-yard run by Caden Durham out of bounds, multiple players from each team continued to engage near the LSU sideline.
Kelly turned downfield in an apparent effort to get an official’s attention with his head faced away from the field. Florida edge rusher George Gumbs Jr. and LSU offensive tackle Weston Davis remained engaged, and Davis shoved Gumbs out of bounds and directly into Kelly.
Davis and Gumbs weigh a combined 567 pounds. Kelly’s weight isn’t listed, but it’s certainly considerably less than that. Kelly went flying deep into the LSU sideline.
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Fortunately, Kelly appeared to escape injury. He remained on the sideline for the remainder of the half and conducted interviews with ESPN in the second half without issue.
The post-whistle shenanigans resulted in offsetting personal foul penalties, and LSU scored a 45-yard field goal to go into halftime with a 13-10 lead. LSU then posted the only score of the second half on a pick-6 of DJ Lagway by Dashawn Spears.
With the win, LSU improves to 3-0 and projects to maintain its No. 3 ranking ahead of a Week 4 game against Southeastern Louisiana. LSU’s next big test comes against No. 17 Mississippi on Sept. 27.
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Florida falls to 1-2 a week after a loss to South Florida dropped it out of the top 25. Things don’t get any easier from here as the Gators face No. 5 Miami next week and No. 7 Texas in their following game. Two weeks after that, No. 6 Georgia awaits.
Kelly escapes injury again
The hit was the second of the season for Kelly, who also got run over by a backpedaling referee during LSU’s Week 1 win over Clemson.
He came out of that hit OK as well. But Kelly can clearly use some work on his sideline awareness.
