Maybe it’s LSU defensive line coach Ed Orgeron’s intensity and coaching techniques. Maybe it’s defensive coordinator Kevin Steele’s scheme. Maybe it’s just a more mature defense finally fixing an area it desperately needed last season.
Whatever it is, the sack is back for the LSU defense.
After 2014, during which they finished 13th in the Southeastern Conference in total sacks with just 19, the Tigers already have nearly half that amount after just two games in 2015. A top-three conference ranking in that category has been accomplished in one less game than LSU’s counterparts.
With five sacks against Auburn, LSU is up to eight on the year to match another eight quarterback hurries. Conversely, the LSU offensive line has allowed sophomore quarterback Brandon Harris to be sacked once and hurried only once, providing a completely clean sheet Saturday afternoon.
While the offensive line was critical to a 2-0 start, bolstering a 411-yard rushing effort against Auburn, the defense, especially the pass rush, limited an All-SEC quarterback in the first game and made life miserable for a young quarterback in the second game.
Auburn junior quarterback Jeremy Johnson was able to have some success in the second half as he recorded all three of his touchdowns in the final two periods. But that also was the half when the LSU defensive front was most impressive in attacking Johnson in the backfield, notching four of the five sacks.
“That quarterback can move his feet,” said LSU coach Les Miles. “There’s some talent to that guy, and we’re in the backfield. I like the fact we can get in that opponent’s backfield and get to that quarterback.”
Johnson is known as more of a pocket passer compared to his predecessor, Nick Marshall, who torched the LSU defense for 119 rushing yards in the 2014 contest on The Plains. However, the first-year starter’s first touchdown came on a 65-yard touchdown run up the middle on the opening drive of the third quarter.
Still, LSU was mostly able to keep Johnson from breaking loose from the pocket as he netted just 41 total yards on the ground.
“[Orgeron told us] just keep him off the edges,” said junior defensive end Tashawn Bower. “You don’t want to let him lose contain and all that. You want to keep him in the pocket, keep him uncomfortable, and it will come. We have great ‘DBs’ and great linebackers, who can cover. They’re going to give us plenty of time to get there.”
Another bright spot for the Tigers was the play of sophomore defensive tackle Frank Herron, who hit the trifecta with a forced fumble and recovery on a sack of Johnson late in the third quarter.
More than just his play was Herron and sophomore defensive tackle Greg Gilmore’s ability to spell the starters, sophomore defensive tackle Davon Godchaux and junior defensive tackle Christian LaCouture, and still be effective on a humid afternoon in Tiger Stadium.
Last season, Gilmore and Herron hardly played. This season, they’re integral members of the defensive line rotation.
“Frank is a great three-technique with myself,” Godchaux, who now has three sacks on the season, said. “Frank is going to be a pretty good player. Him and Greg have so much confidence in their game from last year. Coach ‘O’ just brought them so much confidence. It never was that we couldn’t do it. It was just a want to do it. … Them backing me up, I don’t not trust them one bit. I know they’re going to go out and get the job done.”