When the LSU defense got a makeover this offseason, it was like opening a new chapter.
It was three letters that all Tiger fans wanted to see again reestablished for the future: D-B-U. LSU prides itself on a great history of defensive backs such as Patrick Peterson, Tyrann Mathieu, Morris Claiborne, Grant Delpit and so many more.
Bringing in talent such as Mansoor Delane, AJ Haulcy, Tamarcus Cooley and true freshman DJ Pickett, who’ve all proven themselves to be one of the best secondaries in the country, pointed toward a strong offseason of bringing in and training talent.
The secondary was just the tip of the iceberg. The Tigers were already talented at the linebacker spot, with Whit Weeks being the leader of the defense alongside his brother West, and Harold Perkins holding down the second level.
Outside of the secondary, the defensive line was one of the other position groups that took advantage of the transfer portal to reshape the defense.
Players like Bernard Gooden, Patrick Payton, Jack Pyburn and Jimari Butler have all played key roles in the Tigers’ success.
And while all these new acquisitions have led to LSU having the No. 9 scoring defense in the country and No. 3 in the conference, it feels like something is missing.
Numbers aren’t everything. A lot of times, people will look at the box score and immediately make a narrative based on the stats rather than watching the game.
And while stats don’t always tell the full story, the phrase “numbers don’t lie” is something you’ll hear in any sports conversation. For the LSU defensive line, they’re not lying.
Despite all of the talent in the trenches, the Tigers rank eighth in the SEC for sacks on the season — which is solid, but not exactly what you’re expecting from a defense that has been elite for the majority of the year.
It’s not to say that the Tigers aren’t impacting the game up front at all. You’ve seen Pyburn, Payton and Gooden affect the game, whether that’s a tackle for a loss, a batted pass, setting the edge or a fumble recovery.
But when you see the numbers and you see how LSU stacks up against other SEC teams, it’s apparent that the Tigers haven’t been able to bring down the quarterback consistently. It starts with the little things such as technique or lining up correctly to make the play.
“It’s heavily influenced, and they know that,” head coach Brian Kelly said during Thursday’s press conference. “They’ve seen the last couple times they did a really good job with Sellers, forcing him to go east and west instead of north and south, we have to do that and continue to do that.”
Among the 17 sacks that the Tigers have recorded, only two players have recorded two sacks on the season: Perkins and freshman defensive lineman Damien Shanklin.
Both of Shanklin’s sacks came in the blowout victory against Southeastern Louisiana, while Perkins recently got his second on the season during South Carolina.
Weeks, Gooden, Pyburn and Jacobian Guillory all tie for second with 1.5 sacks on the season, followed by a handful of guys recording one or half a sack.
There isn’t that one game-wrecker on the defensive line that can single-handedly impact the opposing offense.
Payton had the most production coming out of the transfer portal, recording 16 sacks through three seasons with Florida State.
He came out of the portal ranked as the No. 7 player, but whether it’s due to scheme, rotation or even performance on the field, the production has not been the same.
Payton isn’t to blame for the lack of production, but it goes to show that even one of the more talented edge rushers based on the past few seasons has also struggled to find his footing.
Getting sacks isn’t everything, but compared to other great defensive teams, it’s what this LSU defense is missing.
The seven other teams ranked ahead of LSU in the SEC have all recorded at least 20 sacks, and all have a player on their team who has recorded at least four sacks on the season.
Look at the Tigers’ upcoming opponent, Texas A&M. The Aggies are third in the SEC with 25 sacks and are led by the No. 6 sack leader in the nation in Cashius Howell with eight, which is almost half of the entire LSU defense’s total number.
Oklahoma’s pass rush has been almost unblockable, leading the entire country in sacks. The Sooners have five different players who are ranked higher or tied with the current sack leaders for the Tigers.
However, there are a lot of aspects to the game. It isn’t as simple as “just get a sack.”
After the loss to Vanderbilt, Kelly has made it a point of emphasis to focus on the little things, so when they have a chance to make a play, they’ll be ready.
“We didn’t do a very good job against Vanderbilt with that and so you can imagine that was a point of effort that you could hear that on the practice field every single day this week,” Kelly said.
