On3 Roundtable: How Maason Smith was caught in autograph scandal

LSU defensive tackle Maason Smith has waited a nearly a year to return to the football field after tearing his ACL in the first game of the 2022 season. He is going to have to wait another week.

Smith has been suspended for the Tigers’ season opener versus Florida State for signing autographs with Kayshon Boutte prior to the introduction of NIL legislation in 2021. Despite the fact what he did is now legal, Smith is being handed a one game suspension.

Shea Dixon of The Bengal Tiger made an appearance with Andy Staples on On3 Roundtable to discuss the situation and what exactly happened.

“The reporting down here and it’s been reported by multiple outlets now has been that Kayshon Boutte, now with the New England Patriots, and Maason Smith had an autograph session,” Dixon said. “Somehow things went south with Boutte and the person that was running it. That person turned them in to the NCAA.”

Boutte served his suspension last season. But since Smith was injured after Game 1, he has not had the chance to serve the penalty.

The fact that he is even suspended for the matter is something that has drawn the ire and scrutiny of many across the college football world.

“At the time, they said he was out with the flu for at least the game that he sat,” Dixon said. “Maason Smith did not have the opportunity to sit out a game last year because he played in the opener against FSU. As we all know, drive No. 1, he’s celebrating, comes down on his knee wrong, tears his knee, out the whole year. Well, then they were informed over the summer. Hey, Maason is gonna have to sit game one. There’ll be no more choice on the game. Obviously, LSU has fought that. Now here we are a week out from the game finding out publicly Maason won’t play but behind closed doors at LSU, they’ve obviously known about this for a while and certainly have known about the FSU part about not being available for the opener, meaning they’ve gone through practices getting other guys ready.”

Smith — who earned freshman All-American honors in 2021 — is set to be a key part of the Tigers defense. His loss for the game versus the Seminoles, which is one of the biggest games of the opening weekend, will be a tough pill for the Tigers to swallow.