Richard Nixon was president, Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon and gas was 35 cents a gallon.All of these things occurred back in 1969 when LSU last shut out Tulane.No. 9 LSU (7-1 4-1 SEC) registered its first shutout against Tulane (2-6, 0-4 Conference USA) in 40 years Saturday night and its first team shutout since 2007 against Middle Tennessee State, when the Tigers routed the Blue Raiders, 42-0, in Tiger Stadium.LSU limited the Tulane offense to 216 total yards while holding the Green Wave to 26 net yards on the ground and senior running back André Anderson to 27 yards on 11 carries.LSU senior linebacker Jacob Cutrera said the Tigers’ defense yelled out “shutout” all last week whenever the team huddled together following a drill during practice.”We never want to give up points on defense obviously,” said Cutrera, who registered six total tackles. “It finally feels good to get that goose egg up.”LSU entered the game allowing 12 points per game in October and kept the defense up Saturday, throwing an onslaught of blitz packages at Tulane freshman quarterback Ryan Griffin.LSU senior defensive end Rahim Alem and junior linebacker Kelvin Sheppard each sacked Griffin on the Green Wave’s first offensive possession, setting the tone for the rest of the game.Sheppard pushed his team-leading tackles total to 70 after registering 13 tackles. Three of those tackles came behind the line of scrimmage.The LSU offense didn’t just get help from a stingy Tiger defense that only allowed Tulane’s offense across the 50-yard line three times. It also received help from the special teams unit.Senior defensive back Daniel Graff blasted through the line on Tulane’s first possession to block senior punter Ryan Thevenot’s punt, and senior speedster Trindon Holliday put together two 50-yard punt returns.”He’s lightning in a bottle,” said Tulane coach Bob Toledo of Holliday. “His picture was on the cover of the program today, and there is a reason for it. He’s got great, great speed.”Holliday’s second big return came in the middle of the third quarter. He took it all the way down to the Green Wave 20-yard line, which set up a Charles Scott eight-yard touchdown plunge.LSU is tied for fourth in the county in terms of number of punt returns allowed with only five. Florida leads the country, having only allowed two punts to be returned all year.Holliday’s returns, accompanied with the kick coverage, allowed LSU to control field position and eclipse the 40 point mark for the first time since last November against Troy.”Field position is very important in any game,” said LSU senior linebacker Perry Riley. “We definitely want short fields every time the offense gets the ball, and the special teams plays a big role in that.”The defense has seen a complete turn around this year with LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis under helm. LSU averaged a little more than 24 points per game last season on its way to a disappointing 8-5 record.”There is an existing culture of defensive excellence here that our players want and need to be in an environment that grows that culture,” said LSU coach Les Miles. “John Chavis and his defensive staff have came in understanding that and have prospered from it.”Chavis’ unit resembles the 2003 LSU defensive squad that went on to win a BCS national championship against Oklahoma.The ’03 Tigers gave up only 9.5 points per game through their first eight games, compared to the ’09 Tigers’ 12.1 through the same number of games.”I don’t think we really compare ourselves to [past teams],” Sheppard said. “Coach Chavis emphasizes that we don’t do that … He has really high expectations of us, and we really try to live up to that.”LSU’s defense saw a healthy preview of what to expect for this weekend’s showdown with No. 3 Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Tulane, who primarily ran out of the I-formation, pounded the ball up the middle 20 times with nothing to show for it.”We know that’s what Alabama is going to try to do next week, so to get a team in [like Tulane] and play a rushing attack like that … was definitely good for us,” Riley said.- – – -Contact Sean Isabella at [email protected]