Two seasons ago, LSU linebacker Tahj Jones had the game of his life.
The then-reserve stepped onto the Tiger Stadium grass on Oct. 22, 2011, against a No. 19-ranked Auburn squad and shined. In a 45-10 LSU victory, Jones recorded a career-high four tackles, his first sack as a Tiger, a fumble recovery and had a pass defended.
This was the last time Jones made at least four tackles in a regular season game.
In that 2011 sophomore campaign, he played in 14 games, including one start, and made 27 tackles — 3.5 for a loss — and an interception.
But since then, Jones has had a plethora of issues, both on the field and in the classroom, that prevented him from getting playing time.
The 2012 season saw one glimpse of the Sulphur, La., native when he played in the Tigers’ Chick-fil-A Bowl loss against Clemson, where he forced a fumble and recorded a sack.
But he missed the entire regular season due to academic ineligibility.
“It was just a hard road because I just came off that good season [in 2011],” Jones said. “It was frustrating when it happened, and I really couldn’t talk to anybody about it because they didn’t want anybody to know about it.”
This season, though, Jones fixed his study habits and prepared to play out his senior season as a starter.
After three consecutive starts against UAB, Kent State and Auburn, Jones again found himself struggling to see the field. A hamstring injury pushed him to the sidelines, proving to be a nagging pain that prevented him from playing against key Southeastern Conference opponents Georgia, Florida and Ole Miss.
“It was really stressful,” Jones said. “I just always stayed with a positive attitude. I say the Lord had a plan for me. He wanted me out there, and something was going to happen, so I just stayed positive with everything I do.”
The past two seasons brought Jones back to his roots, as he turned to a number of people to help cope with the demoralizing circumstances.
Jones said he turned to two key aspects of his life — faith and family — when he needed them most.
He would participate in Bible study with his grandmother, and faith helped him stay positive.
“It kept me together,” Jones said. “It had my spirit up, and when I would be home, I would go to church on Sundays. … Having the preacher preach to me and everything kept me up and kept me going.”
When word finally spread about his hamstring injury this season, Jones said family members inundated his phone with words of encouragement.
For him, they proved to be the voices in his ear telling him to get back to the field.
“It was always a different family member on the line, and I would talk to them every day,” Jones said. “They all told me the same thing, ‘Don’t give up. Just do whatever they tell you to do to get back onto the field.’ That’s what I took from it.”
As the 2013 campaign closes, Jones finally put the pads back on and trotted out to the field against Alabama, where he recorded his seventh tackle of the season.
For one of the few times this season, the Tigers had their full compliment of linebackers healthy and together on the field.
Junior linebacker D.J. Welter said it was a welcome sight.
“It felt like fall camp,” Welter said. “It felt good to see Tahj out there. He’s worked so hard in his five years here. He’s back out there and he’s ready to go.”
With only Texas A&M and Arkansas remaining in the regular season, the senior has two more opportunities to finish his legacy at LSU.
Even amid the ineligibility and injuries, Jones said he still wants to prove himself and be remembered in the team’s final contests.
“If coach tells me to do something, that’s what I’m going to do,” Jones said. “If I’m lifting weights and they tell me to get lower, I’m going to get lower. Just hard working at everything I do. I tried to get better every time.”
“I just always stayed with a positive attitude. I say the Lord had a plan for me. He wanted me out there, and something was going to happen, so I just stayed positive with everything I do.”