Brian Kelly believes Dallas Turner was attempting to 'knock out' Jayden Daniels

Targeting is once again a topic in the postgame press conference of Brian Kelly. LSU had a player thrown out of Saturday’s contest against Florida, with Andre Sam having a hit on Montrell Johnson Jr. being confirmed as targeting. Kelly was not too happy with the decision when speaking to the media following the game.

“It’s tragic we throw a kid out of the game because he was trying to play football,” Kelly said.

Last week in Tuscaloosa, targeting — or the lack thereof — was a big topic for LSU. Alabama edge rusher Dallas Turner had a hit on quarterback Jayden Daniels, sending him into concussion protocol. Turner was not thrown out of the game, with there not even being a review for targeting.

Instead, the official threw a flag for unnecessary roughness and continued on with the game. Garrett Nussmeier entered the game for a snap and then Daniels came back into the game. Eventually, Daniels was taken off the field and was held out for the remainder.

Kelly compared the hit Sam put on Florida and Turner’s from a Saturday ago. He went on to say he thought Turner “was trying to knock [Daniels] out” on the play.

“That guy last week that hit Jayden Daniels was trying to take him out,” Kelly said. “[Andre Sam] was just making a football play.”

LSU reached out to the SEC to seek some clarity on the non-call on Turner, who remained in the game. Had targeting been called, Turner would have been ejected and would have missed the first half of Alabama’s game against Kentucky.

Kelly said they did not get much from Birmingham, with the SEC headquarters not believing the play met the requirements of targeting.

“It’s hard for me really to comment, because when it’s explained, there’s an explanation to, ‘Yes, he was hit in the head and neck area, which is a criteria, but these things happened so it’s not.’ … ‘This was a horse-collar, but this didn’t happen, so it’s not,’” Kelly said.

“In those instances, I’m left to say it’s open to interpretation in those instances whether those are fouls or not, and we just have to move on.”

Moving back to Sam’s ejection on Saturday, it luckily occurred in the first half vs. Florida. Yes, he was ejected from the game but he will be eligible to play the full four quarters next week in LSU’s home game against Georgia State.