Devin White lost his voice during LSU’s 33-17 win over No. 8 Miami in AT&T Stadium on Sunday.
“We played lights out,” sophomore cornerback Greedy Williams said. “Good leading by [defensive coordinator Dave] Aranda and we came out and executed really well.”
The atmosphere in the NFL stadium was loud and electric, causing the junior linebacker to scream over the crowd to communicate with the rest of the defense.
Even through the first-game-jitters or the deafening crown, the LSU defense forced two turnovers, which is two more than Miami’s defense, who introduced the turnover chain in 2017.
Sophomore linebacker Jacob Phillips and senior safety John Battle both recorded interceptions, with Phillips returning his for a 45-yard touchdown late in the second quarter.
“That was my first start and I wanted to come out strong,” Phillips said. “Just the way the defense played today was a real good statement for our team.”
All he saw when he started running was the end zone. As Phillips celebrated with the team on the sideline, strength and conditioning coach Tommy Moffitt put a towel around his neck as a way of mimicking Miami’s turnover chain.
Phillips was even given ‘turnover Mardi Gras beads’ by a group of fans.
The rest of the defense was so excited amid Phillips’ interception that they almost tackled him before he reached the end zone. Phillips said he thought Williams was a Miami player and just dove into the end zone.
“I wanted to cry,” White said. “That’s little bro. We’re roommates. I’ve been looking after him, teaching him everything I know. To see him have a big night, it was very special. He’s been working so hard.”
White said he and Phillips are roommates and they both put in a lot of extra work over the summer. In the offseason, Phillips and White woke up at 7 a.m. to work out and do extra film sessions.
“Devin White has groomed him into the player he is now,” junior defensive end Breiden Fehoko said. “We got a look at Devin being the vet of that room with the way Jacob played tonight. Getting turnovers, getting sacks, getting penetration, that’s what you want from the linebacker.”
Orgeron emphasized that Phillips has matured a lot between his freshman and sophomore seasons, and will be an important player for LSU going forward.
LSU’s secondary was tested big time against Miami quarterback Malik Rosier and multiple talented receivers.
Junior cornerback Kristian Fulton got his first start since returning from NCAA suspension, and a freshman cornerback made his first appearance in an LSU uniform. Sophomore safety Grant Delpit spent most of his time on the line, rushing the quarterback, finishing with six tackles and one sack.
Both Fulton and Joseph came up big pass break ups in key situations, especially when Williams came out of the game in the fourth quarter with leg cramps.
“Guys were stepping up,” Williams said. “One man goes down and another man up. We put our trust in those guys to play against anybody.”
Despite the overall dominance the LSU defense exerted, two fourth quarter touchdowns put Miami within reach of the Tigers.
“It’s definitely mental errors,” Fehoko said. “We’re can’t get too comfortable. That’s not how we should be playing toward the end of the game, we should be finishing games. But I’m proud of the guys, how we responded toward the end.”
With the national narrative surrounding LSU this offseason, nobody knew what to expect coming into this game.
But White was not at all surprised with the performance.
“Because we’re LSU,” White said. “Everybody’s talking about other teams being who they are, and at the end of the day, this is still LSU and we just wanted to prove that.”
