Saturday’s win against Auburn showed many LSU fans what they wanted to see.The Tigers looked like a brand new team on offense, scoring 31 points and moving the ball seemingly at will.Sophomore quarterback Jordan Jefferson notched a career high with 242 yards passing and three total touchdowns, and the offense totaled a season-high 376 yards in the blowout.But let’s not forget about the unsung heroes of this past and many other weekends — the defense.To me, this is the most under-appreciated facet of this team.Throughout the offense’s struggles, the defense has been, more or less, consistent in its efforts to keep other teams out of the end zone.The Tigers held Florida’s potent offense to 13 points, made several goal-line stands — the most important of which secured a win against Mississippi State — and have only allowed its opponents to score more than 20 points twice all season.The most points the LSU defense allowed through seven games this season is 26 against Mississippi State a month ago, though two points came from a safety.The Tigers are No. 4 in the Southeastern Conference in scoring defense, only allowing 97 points for an average of 14 per game, and No. 6 in total defense, allowing 304 yards a contest. Junior linebacker Kelvin Sheppard leads LSU on that side of the ball with 57 total tackles for an average of 8.1 a game — good enough for No. 6 in the SEC.Two other Tigers are in the top 20 in the Southeastern Conference in tackles as both senior linebackers Harry Coleman and Perry Riley average 6.7 a game, with Coleman having two sacks.This is a far cry from last season when the Tigers finished No. 9 in both scoring defense and total defense in the conference. LSU allowed 24 points per contest and 326 yards per game in the 2008-09 campaign.No Tiger finished in the top 20 in the SEC in tackles.LSU allowed 24 points or more on five separate occasions last season, including more than 50 twice.The Tigers looked pretty terrible throughout most of last season.The defense at times looked confused with the happenings of the field and timid with assignments. It generally lacked the bravado many LSU defenses of the past have displayed.A lot of people flat-out said the players had no “heart,” and their swagger was gone.It may still be relatively early in the season, but I think it’s pretty safe to say the LSU defense has gotten its swagger back — and there was no better exemplification of the swagger than against Auburn.Despite having lost two games in a row, Auburn was still one of the best offenses in the conference entering Saturday’s contest.But it didn’t matter to LSU, as the Tigers dismantled the offense and held Auburn to 193 yards total and 10 points.The game featured two sacks and two forced fumbles by Coleman, one of which was turned into a Jefferson touchdown a few plays later when the quarterback scrambled from 15 yards out to hit pay dirt.It also included a one-handed interception by senior cornerback Chris Hawkins which was all over college football highlight shows throughout the weekend.But the most apparent instance of swagger — the moment I realized it was back — wasn’t even anything the defense did particularly well.Late in the fourth quarter with the game well out of reach, Auburn started to drive down the field on LSU’s defensive reserves.Auburn picked up a series of first downs and made its way to the 1-yard line on the arm of backup junior quarterback Neil Caudle with less than 10 seconds left on the game clock.And the entire LSU first-string defense charged back onto the field and lined up, hyped up the few thousand fans left in attendance and attempted to stop Auburn’s scoring attempt.The Tigers ultimately failed in their attempt, but the entire sequence of events was something to be noted.This unit takes real pride in its work, and the players would rather come back onto the field and try to keep an SEC rival out of the end zone in garbage time than sit on the bench and leave the work up to others.That’s what having real swagger is all about — not about silly hand gestures or some showy celebration dance.It’s about having a real desire to maintain excellence in all aspects of their work, even when no one else will judge it but themselves.The LSU defense has it, and maybe in due time, the entire team will too, and the Tigers can “Swag Surf” that wave to a really remarkable season. Johanathan Brooks is a 21-year-old mass communication senior from Powder Springs, Ga. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_jbrooks.—-Contact Johanathan Brooks at [email protected]