Getty Image / Ken Murray
The LSU Tigers have huge hopes ahead of the 2023 College Football season. Those hopes were slightly dented on Wednesday when they learned that Maason Smith would be suspended for a crucial season-opening game against Florida State.
It’s certainly not the kind of thing you want announced eleven days out from that opener next Sunday.
LSU starting DT Maason Smith will not play in opener vs. Florida State Sept. 3, while serving a 1-game NCAA suspension for receiving an improper benefit, @whalexander_ reported. Smith can return Sept. 9 when LSU hosts Grambling
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) August 24, 2023
Maason Smith may be a name many college football fans have forgotten. The defensive tackle missed basically all of last season after he tore his ACL on the opening drive last year against Florida State. But, he was one of the best true freshmen in the country in 2021. He had 32 total tackles and an impressive four sacks for the Tigers in 2021.
Last year’s game between the two teams, who both came in unranked last year, was a classic. The final two minutes were as chaotic as any game in recent memory, before Florida State’s Jared Verse blocked the game-tying extra point with no time remaining to give the Seminoles a 24-23 win.
Now, both teams are in the top ten in the preseason, and the loss of Maason Smith is a huge deal. Late on Wednesday, some context was provided as to why Maason Smith is serving a suspension.
UPDATE: Multiple sources have confirmed Maason Smith and Kayshon Boutte participated in an autograph signing in the summer of 2021 prior to NIL going live.
Boutte served a one game suspension during the 2022 season. He missed the New Mexico game for the birth of his son and the…
— Matt Moscona (@MattMoscona) August 24, 2023
Suspending a kid for something two years after the fact that is legal now is classic NCAA tomfoolery. It’s a wonder nobody respects them.