Perhaps the college football gods are taking it easy on LSU tonight in Tiger Stadium. How else can you explain the missed call by the officials on what turned out to be a Kayshon Boutte touchdown reception to open the second quarter against Alabama?
Down 21-0 after one quarter of play, LSU opened the second quarter of their home game against the top-ranked Crimson Tide with a bang. TJ Finley completed a 44-yard pass to Kayson Boutte, who caught the ball in stride and cruised his way down the left sideline for a touchdown to put the Tiger son the board.
That’s all well and good. But a replay of the touchdown shows Boutte got started with his celebration a tad prematurely, as he clearly dropped the football prior to crossing the goal line.
It feels as though this ridiculous touchdown celebration pops up at least once every college football season, and Boutte is just the latest to partake in the trend that must drive coaches absolutely crazy.
Fortunately for Boutte, the game continued, seemingly letting Boutte off the hook for this mishap. As the video replay continued, you can see why the officials decided the LSU touchdown should stand. That is because teammate Jontre Kirklin came to the rescue making a beeline for the deserted football as LSU teammates celebrated in the end zone. As it turned out, Kirklin was the one they should have been celebrating.
Had the play been correctly blown dead with nobody recovering the football, LSU would have had the football at the Alabama one-yard line. In the grand scheme of things, this may not have been a major sequence of events one way or the other. Regardless, LSU head coach Ed Orgeron and his staff will have to take some time to remind their players that actually scoring touchdowns will forever be cooler than pre-touchdown celebrations.