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The strong hands that Lance Kelley developed as a receiver came in handy for UL during the closing minutes of last week's 21-18 win over Arkansas State.
After being flagged for a costly penalty on Gerren Blount's interception return in the third quarter, Kelley picked off a Ryan Aplin pass with 2:52 left to end a Red Wolves rally and help the Ragin' Cajuns survive. The sophomore strong safety tipped a ball intended for receiver Taylor Stockemer along the sideline and held on at the UL 24 for his first career interception.
It was a fitting finish for Kelley, a former multi-position standout at St. Thomas More who added four tackles in his first college start as UL won in Jonesboro for the first time since 1997.
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Joshua Parrott
jparrott@theadvertiser.com
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"I was so proud to see him make that play," UL head coach Rickey Bustle said of Kelley, who moved to defense from receiver last spring. "He had made a bad block on an interception earlier in the game, and I got on him about that. But I came back and told him 'You had to forget about it because you were going to come back and make a play that means something.'"
And just like that, he did. Kelley felt confident that he made the play, which he agreed was the biggest of his career. But it was still hard to wait for it to be reviewed — and eventually confirmed.
"I looked down and saw that I had one foot down (inbounds)," Kelley said. "I was just praying that (the play would be confirmed). I knew that our defense needed a stop. I'm just glad that I made the play."
The past year has been a whirlwind for Kelley, who redshirted as a freshman in 2007 and was sidelined two games into the 2008 season with a broken left fibula and torn ankle ligaments in a loss at Illinois.
With the Cajuns (5-4, 3-2 Sun Belt) lacking depth in the secondary, Kelley was moved to safety last spring after undergoing surgery on his leg. The early transition was frustrating at times, although his previous experience at receiver did ease the process.
"It helps a lot, mostly pre-snap before the play, seeing where they're lining up at and where they're planning on going," Kelley said. "It's a lot better when you know that you're about to hit somebody instead of getting hit. It was a hard transition.
"As simple as it sounds, back-pedaling was probably one of the biggest differences for me because I had never run backwards on the field before."
The first half of this season was uneventful for Kelley. Sophomore Chris Richard started the first two games at strong safety before getting hurt. Kelley saw limited action as a backup and missed a Week 4 loss at Nebraska due to a back injury. Five players got the start at strong safety during a six-game stretch, and Kelley was not one of them.
At one point, Bustle said Kelley voiced his frustration to him about a lack of playing time. His ability to read and react on defense, though, improved in recent weeks. That translated into increased playing time and eventually last week's start.
Kelley has been at his best the past three weeks, making 11 of 17 tackles this season over that stretch. He is listed as the projected starter for Saturday's game at Middle Tennessee
(6-3, 4-1).
Bustle said Kelley's improved play is a direct result of a different approach during the week in practice.
"Lance was a very gifted player in high school, and is still a gifted athlete, but he's now surrounded by gifted athletes and is playing against gifted athletes," Bustle said. "I really think he changed his work habits — not that he didn't work hard — but he improved his concentration and focus and now he's playing a lot."
Kelley's aggressiveness made his move to defense almost a no-brainer to some inside the program.
"(Receivers) coach (Darryl) Mason always told me when I played receiver that I belonged on the defensive side of the ball because of the way I played and blocked people," Kelley said.
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