Brian Kelly says 'no malice' in LSU football's Kyren Lacy's touchdown celebration vs USC
BATON ROUGE — Kyren Lacy is a high-strung guy, Brian Kelly says.
And the LSU football junior receiver is working on his emotional control.
"If you were here, that young man, I love him because he's working on that every day," Kelly said during his weekly news conference Tuesday.
After Lacy caught his first touchdown pass of the season Sunday against USC, a second-quarter score that tied the game at 7, he was called for an unsportsmanlike penalty for his celebration that included him imitating holding a gun in the face of Trojan cornerback Greedy Vance Jr., a Kenner native.
The penalty generated shorter field position for USC, which subsequently went down and kicked a go-ahead field goal. USC would eventually go on to win 27-20.
BRIAN KELLY 'ANGRY' AT LSU TEAM Why Brian Kelly was 'angry' with his LSU football team after heartbreaking loss to USC
LSU FALLS IN RANKINGS Updating LSU rankings in college football polls after USC loss
Lacy's personal foul was one of three total for the No. 29 Tigers (0-1) that assisted USC in scoring points. The sum of all the errors had Kelly fired up Sunday night after LSU's fifth straight season-opening defeat but he knows that Lacy's particular incident was a sign that's there still work for the receiver to do.
"That wasn't malice. He's such a high-strung young man that's all he works on. He's in the locker room saying, 'I need to maintain my emotional control,'" Kelly said. "He's working so hard on that. That's why I was so angry, I was angry at the circumstances because he's going on it.
"Same thing with (LSU senior safety) Major Burns. He was so apologetic and so sorry that he took his helmet off — these aren't guys that are just, 'I don't care, that doesn't matter to me.' These guys are working so hard at it. That's why I want so much for them."
Kelly lauded Lacy's approach to the offseason ahead of preseason practice as he knew with the departure of NFL first-round draft picks Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. that he needed to step up.
Lacy did that in the first half against USC with seven catches for 94 yards and the TD. He only had two targets all second half and didn't have any more receptions.
LSU FOOTBALL BURNING QUESTIONS Did LSU football miss Chris Hilton in loss to USC? That and more burning questions for LSU
LSU GRADES FOR USC LOSS Grading LSU football after heartbreaking loss to USC in Las Vegas to open season
Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Brian Kelly: LSU football's Kyren Lacy is working on emotional control
