LSU’s ascension to elite status has come mainly via the strength of old-school football with one of the nation’s stingiest defenses consistently leading the way.
It’s a rare occasion when the ninth-ranked Tigers don’t have a considerable edge on the defensive side, but they’ll meet their match when No. 3 South Carolina invades Death Valley on Saturday with plenty of firepower to claim having the contest’s tougher defenders.
“All year our goal has been to get to the top and be the No. 1 defense in the nation by the end of the year,” safety D.J. Swearinger said during Tuesday’s news conference. “It doesn’t matter what people say or the stats say. That’s our goal and we do have room for improvement.”
LSU (along with SEC mate Alabama) is one of the other top defenses looking to stake its claim as the country’s best, which should provide for a tenacious test of wills during Saturday’s matchup.
During the Tigers’ 14-6 loss last week at Florida, LSU allowed only 237 total yards and forced two turnovers, but only gained 200 and gave the ball away three times. In the four main defensive categories (scoring, total, rushing and passing) on a national scale, only USC’s 28th-ranked pass defense is outside the top-15 for either school and the two programs combine for five top-10 rankings among the eight areas.
LSU is third nationally in total defense, allowing an average of 221 yards per game, and second in pass defense at 122.5 per game. USC is fourth nationally in allowing only 10.5 points per game and ninth against the run with 83.8 yards per.
“They’re just real sound, they don’t use a lot of gimmick stuff here and there,” USC coach Steve Spurrier said of the Tigers during his weekly news conference. “Most good defenses have really good athletes, which is also key. Who knows how this one will turn out, but if we’re to have a chance to beat them our defense has to really play well.”
When the Gamecocks are at their best, such as last week’s impressive 35-7 win over then-No. 5 Georgia in which the Bulldogs didn’t score until late in the fourth quarter, USC’s front-four is getting tremendous pressure in the opposing backfield. USC leads the SEC with 25 sacks, eight more than anybody else.
Super sophomore Jadeveon Clowney has certainly lived up to, if not surpassed, his hype in his second season. He’s second in the conference in both sacks (6.5) and tackles for loss (11.5). He’s flanked on the other side by athletic senior Devin Taylor, who is an imposing 6-foot-8, 267 pounds.
“A lot of people say that’s maybe what separates the SEC from the other conferences is the defensive players,” Spurrier said. “The defensive front-four guys are probably the difference in our conference than a lot of the others. These other conferences have fast guys and quarterbacks and skill players, but those big, dominating lineman type guys – I’m sure the Big 10 has some, but I’m sure there’s probably more in the South and the SEC.”
link: http://www.goupstate.com/article/20121011/ARTICLES/121019913&tc=email_newsletter?p=2&tc=pg
It’s a rare occasion when the ninth-ranked Tigers don’t have a considerable edge on the defensive side, but they’ll meet their match when No. 3 South Carolina invades Death Valley on Saturday with plenty of firepower to claim having the contest’s tougher defenders.
“All year our goal has been to get to the top and be the No. 1 defense in the nation by the end of the year,” safety D.J. Swearinger said during Tuesday’s news conference. “It doesn’t matter what people say or the stats say. That’s our goal and we do have room for improvement.”
LSU (along with SEC mate Alabama) is one of the other top defenses looking to stake its claim as the country’s best, which should provide for a tenacious test of wills during Saturday’s matchup.
During the Tigers’ 14-6 loss last week at Florida, LSU allowed only 237 total yards and forced two turnovers, but only gained 200 and gave the ball away three times. In the four main defensive categories (scoring, total, rushing and passing) on a national scale, only USC’s 28th-ranked pass defense is outside the top-15 for either school and the two programs combine for five top-10 rankings among the eight areas.
LSU is third nationally in total defense, allowing an average of 221 yards per game, and second in pass defense at 122.5 per game. USC is fourth nationally in allowing only 10.5 points per game and ninth against the run with 83.8 yards per.
“They’re just real sound, they don’t use a lot of gimmick stuff here and there,” USC coach Steve Spurrier said of the Tigers during his weekly news conference. “Most good defenses have really good athletes, which is also key. Who knows how this one will turn out, but if we’re to have a chance to beat them our defense has to really play well.”
When the Gamecocks are at their best, such as last week’s impressive 35-7 win over then-No. 5 Georgia in which the Bulldogs didn’t score until late in the fourth quarter, USC’s front-four is getting tremendous pressure in the opposing backfield. USC leads the SEC with 25 sacks, eight more than anybody else.
Super sophomore Jadeveon Clowney has certainly lived up to, if not surpassed, his hype in his second season. He’s second in the conference in both sacks (6.5) and tackles for loss (11.5). He’s flanked on the other side by athletic senior Devin Taylor, who is an imposing 6-foot-8, 267 pounds.
“A lot of people say that’s maybe what separates the SEC from the other conferences is the defensive players,” Spurrier said. “The defensive front-four guys are probably the difference in our conference than a lot of the others. These other conferences have fast guys and quarterbacks and skill players, but those big, dominating lineman type guys – I’m sure the Big 10 has some, but I’m sure there’s probably more in the South and the SEC.”
link: http://www.goupstate.com/article/20121011/ARTICLES/121019913&tc=email_newsletter?p=2&tc=pg