Faced with adverse situations, the LSU defense held strong and came up with big plays to help the Tigers beat Ole Miss Saturday, 14-13, and remain in the hunt for the Southeastern Conference Western Division title.
After three games where weaknesses in the defense were exposed, LSU overcame four turnovers resulting in tremendous field position for the Rebels, and handed Ole Miss its fifth straight loss.
“We made some big plays,” said LSU head coach Nick Saban. “We wanted to reestablish our identity out there and compete in a game for 60 minutes no matter what happened, no matter what the circumstances were — which I thought was the trademark of our teams here and hasn’t been for the last three weeks — and I think our players did that.”
Ole Miss started three drives inside the LSU 40-yard line thanks to two fumbles and a Rick Clausen interception.
But after allowing 174 yards and 10 points in the first half, the LSU defense gave up only 105 second half yards and a field goal.
The Rebels only scoring drive of the second half was a four-play, three-yard drive resulting in a field goal after recovering a Domanick Davis fumble at the LSU 24-yard line.
“The defense was awesome tonight,” said LSU receiver Michael Clayton. “The defense did an excellent job when they came out, stopped them, and they kept on stopping them, giving us chances.”
The win was special for the senior Tigers who were playing in their final game within the confines of Tiger Stadium.
Senior strong safety Norman LeJeune had arguably his best game as a Tiger with a team-leading 13 tackles, including two huge sacks.
“It was very emotional,” LeJeune said. “I just wanted to go out with a bang. The best came to me, and I took advantage of it. We played for each other tonight. And when we do that, nobody can stop us.”
Senior linebacker Bradie James said the defense was successful by controlling the line of scrimmage and putting pressure on Eli Manning.
LSU put the clamps on Manning in the second half, causing him to throw two interceptions, one of which was picked off by Demetrius Hookfin inside the LSU 5-yard-line and returned 45 yards giving the Tigers the momentum.
“The past few games, we kind of lost our dominant defense identity,” James said. “And everybody was asking questions, ‘What can we do?’ But we made vows that we would really play for 60 minutes, and no matter what the offense did, we would just overcome every adverse situation and just go out and keep playing.”
LSU had given up at least 30 points in its three previous games, but the performance by the defense Saturday returned to the form shown during the Tigers’ six-game winning streak.
“The pride of this team is defense,” James said. “Anytime you go out and you’re put in adverse situations, you’ve just got to overcome it. And that’s what we haven’t been doing.”
The Tigers said they will observe the 24-hour celebration rule, and will begin preparations for their game at Arkansas Friday that will decide who represents the West in the SEC Championship game.
“As a defense, if they don’t score, they don’t win,” James said. “Defense wins championships, and we’ve got a chance to play for a championship.”