LSU sophomore cornerback Tyrann Mathieu says he feels like a giant out on the field.
While his 5-foot-9, 179-pound frame doesn’t quite match that description, Mathieu’s impact on the LSU secondary in 14 career games has been nothing less than gigantic.
“His size is 6-foot-6, 300 [pounds], and he’s the strongest man on the field and the fastest,” said LSU coach Les Miles. “When he looks in the mirror, that’s what he there.”
And Mathieu expresses himself through more than just his frenetic pace on the field, as he is constantly chatting up opposing players, celebrating with his teammates and mixing it up with linemen seemingly twice his size.
But off the field, Mathieu is soft-spoken almost beyond recognition, with only his dyed blonde hair betraying the charismatic approach he brings to the game.
Like defensive end Sam Montgomery said after Saturday’s game, Mathieu believes the team and its coach’s unique personality contributes to the Tigers’ success between the lines.
“I think we are all a tad bit crazy,” he said. “We’re just different. Whether it’s me having the hair or Sam calling himself Sonic, whatever helps us make plays is what we’ll do. I don’t think other teams really see guys like us too often, so they’re kind of intimidated by m going to span data-scayt_word=”score.'” data-scaytid=”6″score.’/span And it really is that mindset that span data-scayt_word=”Tyrann” data-scaytid=”11″Tyrann/span Mathieu has,” Miles said. “There’s not a play that he doesn’t have the opportunity to make or that he’s out of. That thought process is span data-scayt_word=”infectious.”” data-scaytid=”7″>infectious.”
Along with his team-high 10 tackles, Mathieu had two pass breakups, a tackle for a loss and played all 82 defensive snaps against Oregon despite lining up mostly at the nickel spot.
The performance earned him the Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Week award on Monday.
While Mathieu said he appreciates the accolades, he recognizes the season is still young.
“Everybody’s congratulating us [since the Oregon game], and telling us they had faith,” he said. “That’s good, and I’m happy with those awards, but none of them help us win games. We have a target on our back now. That’s why it’s a team sport, because my teammates got my