Advocate article: Tigers defense aims to cut down big plays

quote:

---

Harry Coleman’s initial response was probably pretty similar to the thousands of LSU fans watching when the Tigers tangled with Auburn on Saturday.

And for LSU’s starting strong safety, the reaction to one long pass play after another was understandable.

“I can’t really say what I was thinking,” Coleman said with a smile. “I was like ‘Oh ——-.’ My heart dropped to my stomach a few times. You just have to run as fast as you can to try and keep the guy from scoring.”

In a glass half-full/half-empty world, LSU’s defense can look at a rollercoaster defensive performance in a few ways.

Empty — Auburn quarterback Chris Todd completed passes of 23, 29 (twice), 30 and 58 yards against LSU’s young secondary.

Full — None of those pass plays went for touchdowns.

Empty — On a few of the long throws, there were no LSU defenders within a few Herman Johnson shadows of a wide-open receiver.
Full — LSU’s defense surrendered only 14 points despite the secondary breakdowns.

Auburn wound up with 320 total yards on 68 offensive snaps and 16 first downs. The five lengthy pass plays accounted for 169 yards and four first downs. Two other first downs came on LSU personal foul infractions.

On 63 other plays, Auburn scratched out only 151 yards — 2.4 a snap — and 10 first downs.

“If we can eliminate some of those big throws, that defense would have had a spectacular day,” LSU coach Les Miles said. “Instead of them having 320 yards, it could have been much less.”

And the outcome could have been much worse.

“We’re real lucky some of those big plays didn’t finish as touchdowns,” Coleman said.

Giving up big plays isn’t something any defender likes to do.

For a Tigers unit accustomed to clamping down against foes’ running games, giving up large chunks of real estate through the air is unsettling.

Auburn struggled on the ground, carving out just 1.9 yards a carry. On Todd’s 12 completions other than the five long plays, Auburn gained an average of only 6.8 yards per pass.

“We don’t like giving up anything easy, so, yeah, the long pass plays are something we have to look at see what we have to do to fix the problem,” LSU defensive end Tyson Jackson said.

Finding what to fix shouldn’t be a problem. The adage that film doesn’t lie fits well.

---