GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
LSU football coach Brian Kelly tends to have a dry sense of humor, and it was crisp on Thursday after practice.
“Good afternoon,” he said as he entered the press conference, but did not hear much of a reaction.
“Geez. From now on, I’ll come in and say, ‘I hope you all had a crappy day,'” Kelly said as a few laughs spread. “Maybe that’ll get a response out of you.”
Later when asked if he had an injury report, which he is required to have by the Southeastern Conference office, he loaded up again.
“No, we’re not giving one out,” he deadpanned. “We don’t have to.”
After a pause, he said as if speaking to grade school children, “That was sarcastic.”
After a little more laughter, he said, “It’s not going to be see that way, obviously. It’s going to go out as, ‘Coach Kelly refused to give out the injury report.’ But it’ll be our laugh right here.”
Kelly was referencing how some misread or misinterpreted his comments about Georgia on Monday at his press conference. He was jokingly comparing scores, which is a dangerous game if played seriously, and mentioned how bad South Carolina beat Kentucky (31-6) two weeks ago, yet Kentucky nearly beat No. 1 Georgia on Saturday before losing 13-12. And his Tigers beat South Carolina, 36-33, on Saturday.
“So, if we want to do that game,” Kelly mused, “I guess we’re going to beat Georgia by a lot. If that’s how you guys want to play this thing.”
Chris Hilton Injury Status Upgraded
Then Kelly reported that top wide receiver Chris Hilton Jr. has been upgraded to probable for Saturday’s game between No. 16 LSU (2-1) and UCLA (1-1) at 2:30 p.m. on ABC from Tiger Stadium. Hilton, who is LSU’s best deep threat, has missed all three of LSU’s game with an injured ankle.
Kelly added that linebacker Wes Weeks is questionable with a leg injury and defensive tackle Jalen Lee (shoulder) is out.
“Those are the three guys, but I’m not giving out an injury report because I don’t have to,” Kelly cracked. But he was being sarcastic, OK?
Hilton, a junior, caught 13 passes for 225 yards and two touchdowns last season.
“He’s been in the program for three years, so he has experience,” Kelly said. “He knows the offense very well. Certainly, he has speed, and he tracks the ball extremely well down the field. But he’s been out a month, so it’s not going to be, ‘Here’s Chris Hilton tearing it up.’ It takes a while. He can’t come in and take up where he left off. He’s going to help us, and he’s going to be a main player in what we do before the season’s over.”
Kelly said the plan is to bring Hilton back slowly against UCLA and versus South Alabama on Sept. 28 before an open date with hopes he will be as good as new or close to it on Oct. 12 for No. 5 Ole Miss.
Do Not Expect Trey Holly Back This Season
LSU freshman redshirt running back Trey Holly is not expected back this season as he is facing a felony charge for illegal use of a weapon in a shooting last February in his hometown of Farmerville near Ruston. He was originally charged with attempted murder, but that charge was later dropped.
“Obviously, we’ve followed Trey’s situation legally, and there’s not much that we can do,” Kelly said. “We hope for resolution in the case. But this is out of our hands right now.”
New evidence against Holly was presented by the prosecution team in court on Thursday in Union Parish, and Holly has a court date there on Dec. 18.
“This is a matter that needs to be handled through the courts,” Kelly said. “Then we’ll be able to make a decision on his status. He can’t play football here until the legal matters have been settled.”
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