10/21/2023 football Edit

LSU's defense took huge strides in 62-0 win over Army

Luke Hubbard • Death Valley Insider

Analyst

We've been saying it every week since the Ole Miss game, but the defense is finding its footing at the perfect time. I know, Army's offense isn't a juggernaut or anything, but they run an offense that can be tricky to defend.

One of the main problems with LSU's defense to this point was tackling. The Tigers allowed nearly 300 yards on over 20 missed tackles against Ole Miss, but on Saturday, the defense was much, much better at getting Army on the ground.

After the game, Brian Kelly talked about his defense and how he felt they played against a tricky Army offense.

"Obviously I'm pretty pleased. We played a team that runs a very difficult offense because you have to leverage the football, you have to tackle well and you have to have gap integrity. All the principles of playing a good game on defense were on display tonight. You have to have those in place, so we passed the test. Now, again, I'm not ready to nominate this defense for any award, but they are making the progress necessary to continue to build to be a defense that can be a championship football team. Good step forward tonight, this was a big step for us."

— Brian Kelly

Andre Sam was probably the breakout player of the game. He finished the game with two interceptions, and probably could've had four of them. He was all over the field on Saturday and made multiple big plays for the Tigers defense.

Brian Kelly talked after the game about Sam's growth this year and how important he is for this defense the rest of the season.

"It's fun to watch. His patience is really what's starting to show. I thought he took himself out of some plays early in the year, maybe being just a little too aggressive or out of control if you remember early on. He had some missed tackles, but he's really settled in and is playing confident and controlling the middle of the field. He had a couple he might want to have back or he'd have four interceptions, but he's playing at a high level and we need him to do that. If he does, he presents a solid piece for us back there."

— Brian Kelly

Unfortunately for the Tigers, they lost an important piece of their secondary to injury this game. Zy Alexander, the cornerback transfer from Southeastern, went out of the game on the final play of the first half after picking off a hail mary.

Coach Kelly told us after the game he suffered a lower body injury and they will know more in the next few days. If Alexander is out, the Tigers are going to be relying on a slew of young and inexperienced corners down the stretch. We saw two of those guys in the game tonight, and Kelly seemed to be pleased with how they played.

"I was pleased with [Jeremiah] Hughes' performance out there. I thought he did a really good job, they ran a double move at him and his eyes were good. You saw Javien Toviano playing some corner, so those are the guys we got. We're down to playing two corners who are true freshman."

— Brian Kelly

This Tigers defense is trending up at the right time. They have some difficult games down the stretch, including a road trip to Tuscaloosa and a couple home games against Florida and Texas A&M. If LSU can play the type of defense they did tonight, the offense should be able to outscore anybody the play from here on out.