One-time LSU vaunted defense seeds a makeover

Ed Daniels, Sports
Clarion Herald

As the LSU season winds down – one where expectations far outweighed performance – head coach Brian Kelly has a giant rebuild ahead.

The LSU defense is historically bad.

Saturday night in Tuscaloosa, LSU allowed 507 yards of offense to Alabama.

Bama’s quarterback, Jalen Milroe, rushed for four touchdowns, a school record for a quarterback.

In the postgame interview, Kelly was honest when asked why the Tigers didn’t put a spy on Milroe to help slow down his running.

Kelly said that putting another player at the line of scrimmage, would mean one less in the LSU secondary.

For Kelly,  there really are no good options for the LSU defense this season.

Alabama was 11-of-14 on third down, but the most troubling stat was the Tide’s 288 rushing yards.

On the line of scrimmage, LSU did not compete. And, despite what you saw last Saturday night, this was not a great Alabama offense the Tigers were up against.

There was no Tua Tagavailoa at quarterback. No Derrick Henry at running back.

And, no DeVonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle, Henry Ruggs  or Jerry Jeudy at wide receiver.

And, the numbers prove it.

Alabama scored 24 against Ole Miss, 26 against the Texas A&M Aggies, and only 24 points against Arkansas.

But, they ran almost unimpeded through the LSU defense.

The defense was THAT bad.

Kelly said that LSU played “good” but needed to be “elite” on the road to win a game against a Top 10 team.

Here’s what is sad.

If LSU was just average on defense, the Tigers would be in a much better position.

Before he left the game with an injury early in the fourth quarter, Jayden Daniels was incredibly good.

He passed for 219 yards and two touchdowns, and ran 11 times for 163 yards and a touchdown.

Since the middle of last season, Daniels has been one of the best players in college football. But, he won’t have much to show for it, in the way of team accomplishment, because of LSU’s epic failures defensively.

So, what does Kelly do?

For starters, he has to recruit better, and he has to win the transfer portal.

In 2022, he aced the portal, bringing in Daniels, starting corners Jarrick Bernard-Converse and Mekhi Garner, and safeties Greg Brooks and Joe Foucha.

All four were gone this season, including Brooks, who was sadly lost early in the season after being diagnosed with brain cancer.

But, Kelly’s biggest decision will be whether or not to retain defensive coordinator Matt House.

House had the resume: Defensive coordinator at Pitt, Florida International and Kentucky, and three seasons as linebackers coach of the Kansas City Chiefs.

“Matt checks all the boxes,” said Brian Kelly in a news release announcing House’s hire two seasons ago.

But, this season, the LSU defense was bad and stayed that way, despite a misleading shutout of Army, and holding Auburn to 18 points.

In seven games, against teams not named Army or Grambling, LSU has allowed 35 points a game.

At LSU, where great defense is almost as big a tradition as Mike the Tiger, that is totally and completely unacceptable.

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