In the No. 16 LSU football team’s matchup against Ole Miss last Saturday, sophomore linebacker Kendell Beckwith played a big role on two defensive stops that helped the Tigers pull out their 10-7 upset victory against the Rebels.
In the fourth quarter, Ole Miss had the ball at LSU’s 48-yard line. On 3rd and 2, the Rebels ran the ball up the middle and were stuffed by Beckwith and junior defensive end Danielle Hunter for a gain of one yard. On 4th and 1, Beckwith stopped senior quarter back Bo Wallace for no gain.
“I hit the center and we got a surge,” Beckwith said. “All the safeties and stuff dove over the top and stopped them.”
Beckwith had a career night, recording 11 tackles and a slew of pass breakups, quarterback hurries and a tackle for loss. Beckwith said the environment in Tiger Stadium was unlike anything he’d experienced before.
“Those are the type of games you dream of,” Beckwith said. “The atmosphere, the type of plays that happen in a game like that, that’s what you always hope for.”
He’s solidified his position as a starting linebacker, and with this job comes the responsibility of facilitating the calls from the bench to the field.
Beckwith said he’s slowly getting more comfortable with the play calls, and he is learning the signals from some of the older members of the Tigers’ defense. With the loud cheering in Tiger Stadium, he had to yell at the top of his voice for his fellow defenders to hear the plays.
“I had to keep putting water in my mouth and chew gum and stuff because my mouth was so dry,” Beckwith said. “I almost lost my voice. I had to be so loud.”
Hilliard recalls Bama matchup
With No. 3 Alabama on the horizon, senior running back Kenny Hilliard said he has fond memories of previous matchups against the Crimson Tide.
“I remember the big block I made my freshman year,” Hilliard said. “It was an option play and [former LSU running back] Michael Ford ran down the sideline, and that was the play that led us down the field and made us able to kick the field goal and win.”
Along with the historic rivalry between the two schools, LSU and Alabama will enter the game as ranked teams. Hilliard said he expects the stadium to be loud yet again and the atmosphere to be on the same level as past games against the Crimson Tide.
“It’ll be the same kind of atmosphere as Ole Miss,” Hilliard said. “I think it’ll be 10 times worse for the opponent, just because it’s Alabama. It’s going to be great on our end. I can’t wait to get back in that stadium in front of our fans.”
Offensive line embraces the run
LSU sophomore offensive tackle Jerald Hawkins, a physical lineman by trade, said he enjoys blocking for running plays more than passes because he gets to hit the other team much harder.
“I love it, that’s what works for us,” Hawkins said. “Getting down and getting physical, that’s what we love. As long as it keeps working, we’ll keep running it.”
In the fourth quarter alone, the Tigers ran the ball 17 times on five drives, with 12 coming on a single drive. Over the course of the game, LSU rushed 55 times and slowly tired out the Rebels’ defense.
“We had Ole Miss worn down in the fourth quarter,” Hawkins said. “We just kept going at them until the end.”
The Tigers picked up 264 yards on the ground with big performances from freshman running back Leonard Fournette and senior running back Terrence Magee.
Looking ahead to Alabama, Hawkins said he believes the game plan won’t change much, and the Tigers will use the run heavily against the Crimson Tide’s stingy defense.
“Running the ball gets into their head, especially when you get moving and driving downfield,” Hawkins said. “It wears them down, so that’s pretty much our plan.”
You can reach Michael Haarala on Twitter @haarala_TDR.