While the LSU football team’s defense seemed to turn a corner against Florida, one notable thing has been missing from this year’s squad: It hasn’t been forcing turnovers.
Historically, the Tiger defense — especially under defensive coordinator John Chavis — has forced turnovers at a near-league-high rate.
Despite ranking just outside the top five in the conference for total turnovers lost with eight on the season, the Tigers rank near the bottom in turnover margin. The Tigers have only forced nine turnovers in 2013, bringing their overall margin to one.
Since 2010, LSU has forced at least 30 turnovers every year. Already at the midpoint of this season, the Tigers have only forced a third of the turnovers they have averaged in the past three seasons.
“You have to understand the concept of the defense,” said sophomore defensive tackle Quentin Thomas. “If you know that, you should know each play is designed for certain people to make certain plays. So as long as we’re in the right position, the stats will come.”
Thomas said forcing turnovers helps get the defense off the field faster and gets the offense out for more possessions, which ultimately leads to more points.
“If we can start getting more turnovers, with the way our offense is rolling, who knows how many points they could put up,” Thomas said.
Forcing turnovers has often been an indicator of success for the Tigers. In the 2007 National Championship year, the Tigers forced 36 total turnovers — good for a turnover margin of 20.
In the 2011 season when the Tigers lost to Alabama in the BCS Championship Game, they forced 30 turnovers and again had a turnover margin of 20.
Thomas said missed chances when turnover opportunities arise have led to the lack of turnovers this season, and it’s not necessarily anything the defense has done differently, as Chavis has preached the importance of forcing the ball out from the ball carrier’s grasp since Thomas arrived at LSU.
“It comes down to missed opportunities,” Thomas said. “Every day in practice, it’s ‘Get the ball, force the ball out,’ so hopefully in the next couple games we have coming, we can force some more turnovers.”