On Saturday night in Bryant Denny Stadium the LSU Tigers put up a fight against the Crimson Tide of Alabama, but the final score that was displayed on the jumbotron for all to see was, 20 -14 in the Tide’s favor. Without the astonishing effort, focus and determination by the LSU defense this game would not have been a back and forth affair all night. This week the defense was able to keep this game tightly contested.
LSU was fortunate enough to have a bye week last weekend, which afforded them another week to devise a technical defensive scheme. Defensive coordinator Daronte Jones worked on different strategies for his players to mix up their alignment on the field, creating a more dynamic approach.
A great example of this was Alabama’s first drive of the game on a third and eight. You could notice that LSU showed a blitz package, to confuse the quarterback but also to get their best or most speedy athletic defenders to infiltrate the backfield. LSU also allowed their edge rushers to stand in a two-point stance which gave them more chances at spacing out the offensive line. Just because LSU altered their defensive lineman stance against Alabama does not mean they should abandon the four-down stance altogether.
In order to compensate for the injury-riddled defensive backers, LSU ran blitz packages with linebacker Damone Clark, Micah Baskerville and Mike Jones. Another example of when this blitz package was able to find success was at the twelve-minute mark in the second quarter and Alabama had possession. LSU’s front seven were able to once again crowd the line of scrimmage. They have not shown this on tape all year long, so this exotic look was baffling to an unprepared Alabama offensive line. In this play, Baskerville ran his blitz and then had the top-notch instincts to drop out of the blitz and find a man that was crossing in his zone. That slight confusion gave the LSU defense a four and out in a critical time during the game.
The LSU defense spent the prior week really tightening up their predictable ways of defensive schemes and got a chance to unlock some new ideas for the players to get comfortable with. Alabama eventually would find success but it did take a whole half for them to get momentum and also this new strategy kept LSU engaged in the action while simultaneously giving their offense a chance to fight back. I expect even more hunger from the Tigers this weekend as they will be back at home to host the Razorbacks in the Battle for the Boot.
