When the No. 22 LSU football team enters LP Field in Nashville, Tennessee, to take on Notre Dame in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl at 2 p.m. Tuesday, the Tigers will depend on the strength of their improved defense to shut down the Fighting Irish’s offense.
Throughout LSU football coach Les Miles’ tenure, dominant defense has been the foundation of championship teams, and part of that success is built on Miles’ philosophy of letting young players contribute early and often.
After allowing a combined 71 points in its first two Southeastern Conference games against Mississippi State and Auburn, LSU’s (8-4, 4-4 SEC) defense developed into the top overall defense in the conference.
The dramatic turnaround was fueled by the development of young playmakers at each level of the defense.
“Remember this — there were some freshmen in that defense, too,” Miles said. “It took some time [for them] to get a handle on some of the things that needed to be defended, and some of the adjustments that needed to be made in technique.”
Against Mississippi State and Auburn, the young Tigers’ defense struggled to stop dual-threat quarterbacks. Mississippi State’s junior quarterback Dak Prescott ran for 118 yards in the Bulldogs’ 34-29 victory.
Just two weeks later, Auburn’s senior quarterback Nick Marshall gutted the Tigers’ defense, rushing for 124 yards on 16 carries with two rushing touchdowns.
The turning point for LSU’s defense came against Florida, when the Tigers held the Gators to 306 total yards, including only 123 rushing yards.
Since that game, LSU allowed only 9.6 quarterback rushing yards per game.
Against Notre Dame (7-5), the Tigers will face another dual-threat quarterback in sophomore Malik Zaire, who averaged 15.2 yards per rush in his six appearances this season.
Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly announced Monday that Zaire will make his first start in place of senior quarterback Everett Golson, who has started every game for the Fighting Irish this season.
One of the major changes Miles made following the Tigers’ early defensive struggles was starting sophomore linebacker Kendell Beckwith in place of senior linebacker D.J. Welter against Florida, which has added athleticism at middle linebacker.
Since Beckwith entered the starting lineup, LSU’s defense has dominated opposing offenses and allowed only 267.4 total yards and 12.8 points per game.
Beckwith has tallied 42 tackles, including 4.5 tackles for loss and one sack, in his six starts.
“On the back end of the season, I really learned the defense,” Beckwith said. “I didn’t have the problems with the checks and stuff that I had early on in the season. I really progressed and really learned my stuff. I knew what to actually do in certain situations. “
In the secondary, veteran players have helped mentor young defensive backs, which sped up their development.
For sophomore safety Ricky Jefferson, who has two picks on the season, the older players’ style of play has inspired him to adapt his own game. Jefferson said he takes his confidence on the field from junior safety Jalen Mills and the idea of leading by example from senior safety Ronald Martin.
“It’s been nice because I almost model my game after some of them, but I bring my own little style with it,” Jefferson said. “…It’s been nice to get in there and show them that I can do some of this stuff too.”
LSU will depend on its second-ranked SEC scoring defense and passing defense to shut down Zaire and the Notre Dame offense, which is ranked No. 16 overall.