I don’t know what was put in the Tigers’ end zone before LSU and Mississippi State kicked off, but whatever it was, it worked.
LSU seemed repulsed by the thought of a touchdown in the first half. It stayed as far away from the north and south ends of the field as possible.
Not that senior kicker Josh Jasper minded. He had a field (goal) day, scoring 17 of LSU’s 29 points.
I can tell you what kept the Bulldogs out of the land of six points: defensive coordinator John Chavis.
I don’t know if I have ever been more impressed with LSU’s defense since I’ve been on campus. The players are young, and they fly to the ball faster than any team I’ve watched this season. They have a knack for making the right plays at the right time.
The defense surrendered 268 total yards (116 in the air and 152 on the ground). But that didn’t matter. It only surrendered an early third quarter touchdown, and that was it.
This LSU defense, which looks like the Saints’ defense from last year, was what won LSU two national championships in the 2000s.
They may give up some yards, but they get the timely turnovers that make the total yards statistics
completely worthless. They put numbers up in the statistics columns that matter — turnovers won and interceptions.
The interception column was certainly full for LSU’s defense Saturday night. If I had a buck for every interception LSU got, I would have almost been able to buy one of those obnoxiously overpriced Papa John’s pizzas.
Alas, LSU only had five interceptions, not the seven I needed.
Those interceptions can’t be credited to junior Patrick Peterson (who had two), sophomore Morris Claiborne (who also had two) and senior Drake Nevis alone (although his one-handed, behind-his-head interception was pretty impressive.)
The defensive line and linebacking corps aggressively faced Mississippi State quarterbacks Chris Relf and Tyler Russell, forcing errant throws.
Chavis is bringing the pressure on opposing quarterbacks, just like he did last year. But this year, the Tigers are getting to the quarterback and forcing turnovers.
Those interceptions led to some offensive output. Well, more like special teams output. But the point is the same: four of LSU’s five interceptions led to 16 of the Tigers’ 29 points.
LSU’s defense last season lacked those timely turnovers, which was part of the reason for their failure.
If they can continue to play at the level they have played the past two weeks, then LSU can compete against anyone, even with a mediocre offense.
Oh, and on a completely different note, kudos to the student section for also being amazing. I’d venture to say that around 95 percent of y’all wore gold, and it looked wonderful.
As far as the rest of the stadium goes, y’all need some work. It was fairly gold, but there was too much purple and other colors sprinkled throughout.
If you watched the Arizona home game on the tube after the LSU game, you would have seen how amazing a unifying color can look. Someone got a bunch of shirts made, the team wore all red and it looked outstanding.
Next year, LSU needs to pull an all gold uniform for the game. And someone needs to step up and get a mass production of gold shirts made for the game.
Here’s looking at you, Tiger Athletic Foundation donors.
Andy Schwehm is a 21-year-old psychology and English senior from New Orleans. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_Aschwehm.
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Contact Andy Schwehm at [email protected]