After a 2011 season full of non-offensive scores and timely forced turnovers, 2012 was almost destined to pale in comparison.
Except it didn’t.
Despite a pervasive perception to the contrary, this year’s Tigers actually outpaced their turnover total from last season by a 31-30 margin, and they’ve done it in two fewer games.
Those 31 takeaways in 12 games lead the Southeastern Conference. That total ties LSU for seventh in the nation.
“We’re working on strip drills or hands team type stuff all the time,” junior defensive end Sam Montgomery said last week. “Turnovers is adding our little flair to playing defense the way we expect to.”
LSU continued the big-play defense last Friday, capping a third straight 10-win season by forcing two key turnovers against Arkansas.
Junior linebacker Lamin Barrow’s strip of Arkansas senior running back Dennis Johnson stunted an impressive opening drive and cornerback Tharold Simon’s fourth interception of the season resulted in a Tiger field goal.
“The turnover at the 2-yard line was the key to the game, stopping them early,” said LSU coach Les Miles. “The interception was a pretty special [play], and it led to points.”
But the turnovers haven’t resonated with fans or the highlight reels as much, partly because they didn’t immediately create points slightly less often.
The Tigers scored five times directly on defensive turnovers in 2011 against just three times this season.
There was also no Tyrann Mathieu with a strip-and-score return against top-five Oregon or Morris Claiborne putting the exclamation point on an SEC title.
Instead, three pick-sixes in 2012 came against Mississippi State and Idaho, hardly foes worthy of future memory-bank fodder.
Turnover margin also marginalized LSU’s takeaways this season, as the Tigers coughed the ball up 16 times.
That still makes for a roughly 2-to-1 positive margin — good enough for eighth in the country — but it’s a step down from the 3-to-1 margin of 2011, when LSU ranked second in the statistic.
“The offense always feels responsible for holding onto the ball and backing our defense up,” said offensive lineman Josh Dworaczyk. “Whether it’s protection problems or just a few balls dropped, one or two makes a huge difference.”
The difference may not be as wide as the perception though.
Turnover margin waned, but the LSU offense was just as dynamic this fall scoring the ball after a turnover.
The 2011 squad earned 134 points off turnovers in 14 outings for an average of 9.6 points per game.
The 2012 numbers are nearly identical, with LSU compiling 119 points off turnovers in 12 games, or 9.9 points per contest.
“You make critical mistakes against a team of [LSU’s] caliber, and you’re giving away points,” said Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen after his team’s 37-17 loss at LSU. “It seems to always be like that against them.”
Mullen made an astute observation, as the Tigers’ recent success fluctuates closely with their ability to force turnovers.
In Miles’ only sub-10 win seasons in Baton Rouge, LSU forced just 18 and 19 turnovers, respectively, in 2008 and 2009.
Compare that to 36 in 2007’s BCS championship season and 32 while winning 11 games in 2010, and you almost don’t have to see the scoreboard to guess how many wins LSU had this year.
“This is a tradition here,” Montgomery said. “It’s not enough to just play great defense. You got to earn some points back. We turn you over, we get points. That’s how we think.”
