This season the LSU defense has made great strides in its sack totals and third-down defense thanks to a new wrinkle in its playbook.
 
Second-year LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis has utilized his defense’s speed in third-and- long situations with a new personnel package known as the “Mustang,” which features three defensive linemen, two linebackers and six defensive backs.
 
The new package has LSU players booming with confidence.
 
“I don’t see any offensive lineman trying to block our blitzing package,” said junior outside linebacker Ryan Baker.
 
The Mustang has helped vault the Tigers to the top of the Southeastern Conference rankings in total defense. The LSU defense has allowed more than 250 total yards in only two of six contests in 2010.
 
“The play speaks for itself,” said senior middle linebacker Kelvin Sheppard. “When you put speed and athletes on the field, with the defensive coordinator we have who’s putting us in the right positions to make plays, the film doesn’t lie.”
 
The stats don’t lie either.
 
LSU is tied with South Carolina for the SEC lead with 19 sacks. In 2009 the Tigers needed 12 games to record 19 sacks and finished the season ranked 87th nationally with 21 sacks.
 
LSU has managed at least one sack out of the Mustang in five games this year, including two in the season opener against North Carolina and three against Tennessee. LSU recorded four of its five interceptions against Mississippi State through calls in the Mustang.
 
Chavis has also made a habit of pressuring opposing quarterbacks from every possible angle with the formation. Sixteen players have recorded a tackle for loss, and eight players have recorded at least one sack.
 
“Coach Chavis is definitely going to bring pressure from all around the field,” said junior cornerback Patrick Peterson. “We have so many different blitz packages that a lot of offenses are not going to know what to do.”
 
LSU’s ability to create confusion and disguise blitzes through the Mustang has resulted in significant improvements in its third-down defense. The Tigers rank fifth in the SEC in third-down conversions allowed. Last year LSU finished ninth in the conference in that category.
 
But the Mustang has been most effective in third-and-long situations. Opponents have only converted eight third downs of eight yards or more in 38 attempts against the LSU defense this season. The Tigers also rank fifth nationally with 26 3-and-outs.
 
“I contribute a lot of our [third-down] success to our Mustang package because once that package gets on the field, there’s not much the offense can do because they’re not sure where we’re going to come from,” said junior strong safety Brandon Taylor.
 
Chavis installed the new package during the offseason as the players grew more familiar with his scheme. Sheppard first learned about some of the new calls during the offseason in talking with fellow Georgia native and former Tennessee safety and current Kansas City Chief Eric Berry, whom Chavis coached during his 14-year tenure as defensive coordinator at Tennessee.
 
“We were sitting down talking, and he just started naming all these things and showing me what they did at Tennessee,” Sheppard said. “And I said to myself, ‘Hey, we never did any of that.'”
 
But the new additions to the defensive playbook have become second nature to the LSU defense, and players know what to expect when they get a Mustang call in the huddle.
 
“Once you hear, ‘Mustang, Mustang,’ you know something big is coming,” Baker said.
 
 
 
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Contact Cory Boudreaux at [email protected]