LSU Coach Brian Kelly Plans To Address 'Illegal' Play With SEC

The LSU Tigers managed to hold on for a 36-33 victory over South Carolina in its SEC opener on September 14, but Tigers head coach Brian Kelly believes the final score may have been closer than it should have been.

Kelly took issue with South Carolina's blocked punt early in the second quarter that led to a touchdown. The Gamecocks were leading 10-0 when their punt rush crashed through LSU's wedge and blocked the punt. South Carolina recovered on the 10-yard line and scored a touchdown on the next play to extend their lead to 17-0.

Though LSU was able to rally and win the game, Kelly said after the game that he plans to speak to the SEC office about what he believed was an illegal block.

"I'm going to have to take that up with our SEC office," Kelly said in his postgame press conference. "We believe it was an illegal block. We voiced our concern with it. We will address it with the SEC officiator John McDaid. We believe we have an argument there. We'll bring it to them."

As the Lafayette Daily Advertiser noted, it is illegal "if a defensive player who is inside the tackle box tries to block a punt by leaving his feet and leaping into the plane directly above the frame of the body of an opponent."

If the SEC agrees with Kelly's argument, it could release a statement saying the officiating crew missed a penalty in LSU's win, the report added.

Related: Calls Mount for LSU-South Carolina Officiating Crew To Be Investigated After Saturday’s Game