Jacobian Guillory and Sage Ryan talk about the state of LSU's defense

Published Oct 12, 2023

Luke Hubbard • Death Valley Insider

Analyst

During the weekly player interviews, we got the chance to talk to defensive lineman, Jacobian Guillory, and defensive back, Sage Ryan. The two were able to give us some insight on how the defense is feeling and the new four down scheme they implemented this past week.

As I just alluded to, one of the big transitions Brian Kelly said LSU was going to make this week defensively was a change from a three down defense to a four down defense. But, if you watched the Missouri game closely, it didn't seem like LSU really changed to a four down defense. They usually had three lineman with their hand on the ground, which signals a three down defense, but Gillory clarified what the difference in their defense this week was.

"When we say three down or four down, it just means sometimes the Jack [linebacker] is dropping and sometimes he's rushing. If it's four down, he's rushing, if it's three down, he's dropping. It's kind of like a hybrid defense."

Jacobian Gillory

Brian Kelly said this week that he thought the defense started to see the light at the end of the tunnel. With a few big plays from the Tigers defense, they finally have shown themselves what they can become. Guillory says that this is a big week for them to prove themselves. They haven't been able to help out the offense like they've wanted to, but he thinks they're only getting better.

"Defensively, we understand we need to pick it up, but it's going to take preparation. Like Coach Pete [Jenkins] says, 'It's not about the destination, it's about the journey.' Think about the 2019 team, they didn't have the No. 1 defense, but we want to be the No. 1 defense so we don't have to put our offense in that type of a bind. This week is going to be a big test on us, we've got to come ready to play. Our defense is just trying to get better every week."

Jacobian Guillory

Brian Kelly brought in former LSU defensive line coach, Pete Jenkins, last week. Guillory said that in just a short amount of time, Jenkins has been able to help them hone in on some of the little things they've been doing wrong. If you watched the Missouri game, it was evident that the defensive line played better than it had in the past. Their alignment was better, their hand placement was better, and in turn, they were able to be a more efficient front.

"Honing in on the technique, that's what [Pete Jenkins] wants. When he first came in he said it's all there, there's nothing bad, we just need to get the little stuff right. If we get the little stuff right, it'll make the big things even better. The D-line wants to effect the game, so ultimately, if the D-line is controlling the game, the defense is controlling the game. We want to be in that situation so JD5 can go out there do what he's been doing without any questions about the defense."

Jacobian Guillory

Moving to the secondary, Sage Ryan, the former five star safety from Lafayette, made the move to corner against Missouri. Sage earned the second highest coverage grade on the team from PFF and allowed two catches for 41 yards in his first game on the outside. Ryan talked about the position change and the process of preparing to play corner for the first time in his career.

"It's good. I was at the nickel spot before we changed personnel, so the opportunity presented itself and I just took advantage of it. I'm getting better each day and my teammates are helping me, coach Steeples is guiding me to become the best player that I can be...I had always been at nickel and safety. That was a huge step for me, kind of out of my comfort zone, but now that I know everything and they threw me in there, I can be comfortable with it because I know what everyone's doing. Any way that I can help the team win, that's what it's all about."

Sage Ryan

Brian Kelly said this week that Ryan, who's only a sophomore, is one of the more reliable players on LSU's defense. When he's on the field, Kelly doesn't have to worry too much about him because he knows he's going to play smart. When asked about what he does to be such a reliable player, this was Ryan's response:

"Just enhancing my football smarts. Going in day by day and just being consistent with my work. You've got to have a different love for the game at this level, so it's just amazing that I'm able to do what I do with my teammates."

Sage Ryan

At the beginning of the Missouri game, it looked like LSU's defense was going to have a repeat of the Ole Miss game. Missouri scored 22 points on their first three drives, but after that, LSU was able to get after Missouri's offense and held them to 17 points the rest of the way. Ryan talked about what happened that allowed the Tigers to flip the script on defense and come back out in the second half with a very strong performance.

"It was a mindset thing. We just came out in the second half firing on all cylinders. Coach House told us they're not doing anything out of the ordinary. We just have to do the ordinary things correctly, and that's what we did. The mindset was, we were going to leave with the W."

Sage Ryan

As Guillory talked about earlier, LSU has switched things up on the defensive side of the ball scheme wise. The switch from a three down front to a four down front has allowed House to make the defensive scheme a little simpler, and it's allowed his players to think less and play more free. Ryan was asked about the new scheme and how he feels in it, and he said it allowed them to focus on what they need to focus on instead of worrying about formations and other things that could distract them from performing at a high level.

"It allows us to focus on what we need to focus on instead of having all that complex different formations and different groups of people on the field. It just focuses on what we do best, which right now is a four down front. We're just trying to simplify it for us and it's going to come along."

Sage Ryan

From talking to these two players, it feels like the Tigers simplification of their defense may be exactly what they need. House was an NFL coach, so there's no doubt he was trying to throw in some complex schemes and formations, but a lot of these guys have probably never played in anything like it before.

We saw the first few weeks that they seemed to be overthinking everything, and it led to a lot of blown coverages and other issues. The four down front seems to be the way to go from here on out, and maybe it can help this defense find its footing and get back to playing LSU style defense.