BATON ROUGE – Through six games this season, LSU had the worst defense in the SEC and one of the worst in school history. It showed signs of minor progress against Missouri, but still gave up 39 points. Against Auburn, the defense finally looked to take the step many were waiting for.
LSU held Auburn to 18 points and 293 total yards in a 48-18 win. It was the lowest point total LSU had allowed since its 41-14 win over Mississippi State in Week 3.
“I give our defense a lot of credit,” head coach Brian Kelly said after the game. “They’ve been under a lot of scrutiny and to see that kind of development over the past couple of weeks, it’s been fun.”
The two biggest issues facing the LSU defense were tackling and poor play in the secondary. Both of those issues looked to be fixed against Auburn, as LSU held the visiting Tigers to 154 passing yards and there were far fewer missed tackles than usual.
“We are fundamentally working on tackling every single day until we are in a position where we feel like we’re going to tackle the football the right way,” Kelly said.
From the start of the game, the defensive gameplan was different than usual. Against a weaker receiving core compared to LSU’s last two opponents, LSU played a lot of man coverage early in the game.
With one-on-one coverage being one of LSU’s biggest weaknesses, the defense’s ability to make plays in coverage was an encouraging sign early in the game.
Zy Alexander was the standout player of the group, breaking up multiple passes in the first quarter, and finishing the game with nine tackles and two pass breakups.
Alexander said the defense took the improvements personal, and that was clear when watching the competitive edge that was seen on defense.
The front seven had one of its best games too. LSU held Auburn to 139 rushing yards, 63 yards below Auburn’s average coming into the game. The defensive line also did a good job of getting pressure, led by Harold Perkins’ efforts off the edge.
Perkins finished the game with two tackles for loss and a sack, leading an LSU defense that finished the game with five tackles for loss. For the second straight week, LSU primarily utilized four down linemen in its defensive front, a change sparked by Pete Jenkins joining the defensive staff.
“Everybody now is comfortable and knowing what their assignments are,” Kelly said. “When you can get your cleats in the ground and play defense, run, hit and get excited–I know those sound like cliches–but that really helps with the confidence of the group.”
With the consistent production of the LSU offense, having a strong performance from the defense is what LSU was missing to this point in the season. Against Auburn, the offense was dominant again, scoring 49 points and gaining 563 total yards.
Jayden Daniels threw for 325 yards and three touchdowns. Logan Diggs and Daniels led LSU to 238 yards rushing and Kyren Lacy emerged as the third receiver LSU was looking for with 111 and a touchdown on four catches.
Daniels talked about how important it is for the offense to have depth, but was confident that it was there all along.
“An guy can go out there and make a play…Kyren did that tonight,” Daniels said.
Mistakes and penalties slowed down the offense slightly in the first half, but the defense’s performance kept that from affecting LSU’s control over the game. Desipte Auburn holing LSU to a pair of field goals in the first half, LSU still took a 20-7 lead into halftime.
From there, that lead only grew, and a confidence-building blowout win was the end result.
LSU now improves to 5-2, and will play Army at home and have a bye the following week before its road showdown against Alabama.
With just one SEC loss, LSU still has everything to play for in the SEC West, and if the defense can keep performing at this level, LSU has the offense to compete with every one of its remaining opponents.
“I’ll put this team up with anybody in the league right now,” Kelly said. “We just need to continue to grow and continue to get better from a defensive perspective in terms of all 11 players, knowing their assignments, playing disciplined football and being again, much more aggressive to the ball when it’s in the air. I think if we do that, this is a team that can compete for a championship.”
