LSU football had an offense good enough to win a championship in 2023. What held it back was a defense that ranked in the hundreds in almost every statistical category.
In response to that, head coach Brian Kelly cleaned house with the defensive coaching staff, replacing the defensive coordinator, cornerbacks coach, safeties coach and defensive line coach during the offseason.
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It was unrealistic to expect a complete turnaround in one spring camp, and Saturday’s Spring Game showed there’s still plenty of room for improvement. There were impressive moments, but also plenty of the big plays given up that LSU fans were accustomed to seeing last season.
First team defense struggled against the first team offense
The beginning of the spring game looked similar to many games last season for the LSU defense. Fireworks came on the first possession for the offense when a coverage bust allowed Mississippi State transfer receiver Zavion Thomas to run free behind the defense for a 45-yard touchdown.
“We can’t let the ball over our head. We had some coverage mistakes. Those can’t continue to happen,” Kelly said after the game when addressing his concerns from the day.
That was a concerning theme for the LSU defense for much of the game as Garrett Nussmeier picked apart the secondary with ease on long passes. He finished 7-for-7 with 187 yards and two touchdowns on the day.
The defensive line struggled against the first team offensive line, but that wasn’t surprising given the numbers in the defensive front. Kelly said earlier in the week that they were still looking to add transfers on the defensive line and doubled down on that Saturday.
“We’ve got to continue to evaluate and recruit at the defensive tackle position. That’s a must,” Kelly said. “I like what our edges are doing. We’re getting good pressure from the edge, but we’ve got to be really stout inside.”
Kylin Jackson stood out on the second team
While Nussmeier, Kyren Lacy and company largely had their way with the first team defense, the second team defense showed some positive signs. The most notable performer was Jackson, who impressed both in coverage and in the backfield.
Jackson, a freshman who redshirted last season looked comfortable at the safety positions with multiple pass breakups and a sack.
“I thought Kylin did a nice job in coverage. But again, his skill set is such that he’s going to do a really good job on the tight ends and we expect him to do that,” Kelly said. “I think what we need to see is his run fits and we’ll have to watch the film to see that.”
Jackson was a highly-touted four-star recruit out of Zachary High School, but didn’t play much last season due to progress he still needed to make off the field, according to Kelly.
“He’s a young player. And I think you guys know me by now that young players have to do things off the field in the classroom. They have to be on time. They’ve got to do all the right things before we give them a bigger role on the field,” Kelly said. “He’s a good kid, and we like him, but all of those things have to come together if we’re gonna give him a bigger piece of the pie.”
The pass rush made an impact
While LSU’s interior defensive line is far from a finished product, there’s still plenty of talent on the edges. The Tigers returned players such as Bradyn Swinson, Sai’vion Jones and Da’Shawn Womack from last season.
However, the biggest standout on the edge from the spring game was freshman Gabriel Reliford. He finished with two sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss, having consistent success with the second team defense.
“We’re going to have to take Gabe and we’re going to have to get Gabe some reps against Will Campbell, we’re going to have to get him up against Emery [Jones] because he’s earned that now. We’ve got to be able to see what he looks like against those guys,” Kelly said
The defense finished the game with seven sacks, albeit with rules not allowing them to tackle the quarterback. Harold Perkins, Kolaj Cobbins, Dylan Carpenter and Jackson all added sacks as well.
