Donnie Alexander will have to wait no longer.
The junior linebacker moves from the sideline to the frontline in place of senior linebacker Kendell Beckwith —who injured his knee versus Florida Saturday — on Thursday versus Texas A&M at 6:30 p.m.
While filling in for Beckwith, who is second in the Southeastern Conference with 91 tackles, isn’t going to be an easy task, Alexander doesn’t want there to be a noticeable drop off at middle linebacker.
“I got to be way more focused than I was before,” he said about moving into a starting role. “Kendell [Beckwith] is a big loss for the defense, and I want to go out there and make it feel like he is still out there.”
Junior safety John Battle, who was in the same recruiting class as Alexander, is confident Alexander will be able to fill the void left by Beckwith’s absence.
“That’s an all-American. That’s hard to do,” Battle said about replacing Beckwith. “We’re definitely going to miss him. He’s very impactful for our team. It’s going to be very challenging, but I think Donnie is going to do a good job Thursday of stepping up and filling that role.”
Alexander, who will make his second career start versus the Aggies, has had the opportunity to learn from past LSU linebackers who are now starters in the NFL.
Former LSU linebackers, including Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Kwon Alexander and Atlanta Falcons linebacker Deion Jones, are players who he’s tried to mold his game after. Beckwith and senior linebacker Duke Riley have also been beneficial for the New Orleans native.
“All of them basically took me under their wing,” Alexander said. “I basically soaked everything I can under them and try to put it under my game.”
Alexander has played in all 10 games for LSU this season, registering 36 tackles, has played backup behind Beckwith and on special teams. LSU coach Ed Orgeron applauded Alexander’s eight tackle performance versus Florida but is expecting him to have a larger role on Thursday.
“Donnie did a pretty good job for us,” Orgeron said about Alexander’s play on Saturday versus Florida. “Donnie is going to have to step up. He’s really going to have to do it … When Kendell went down, we step up for each other, but it’s the next man up.”
Beckwith is about 40 pounds bigger than Alexander, and at 6-foot-1, 212-pounds, Alexander is undersized for a middle linebacker, something he and Orgeron acknowledged.
However, what Alexander lacks in size, his speed makes up for.
“Try and attack them first,” Alexander said. “Attack them before they see me coming. Put the speed on them. I feel like if I put that speed before they get started, I’ll make the tackle.”
Texas A&M employs a spread attack that focuses on throwing the ball and getting wide receivers in place, which suits Alexander’s game well, he said. He’s also very familiar with the Aggies wide receiver Speedy Noil, who both went to Edna Karr High School in New Orleans.
Alexander said he tried to get the former five-star wide receiver to commit to LSU, but his mind was already made up to play for Texas A&M because of its pass-happy offense. While Alexander and Noil likely won’t be matched up often, Alexander will be waiting for the opportunity to be lined up against him.
“I don’t know if I can be matched up against him,” Alexander said. “But if I can catch him, I’m going to put something on him.”

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Jordan Marcell

LSU junior line backer Donnie Alexander (48) and sophomore running back Nick Brossette (4) pump up the crowd before the Tigers' 16-10 loss to the Florida Gators on Saturday Nov. 19, 2016 at Tiger Stadium.