Brian Kelly awards Micah Baskerville the game ball following LSU win

Micah Baskerville has experienced every up and down imaginable in an LSU uniform. He was a sophomore on that national championship team in 2019, and a senior on the group that helped get Ed Orgeron fired last season. Now, he’s back for his second, his super-senior season to help kick-start the Brian Kelly era in the Bayou.

So far, Baskerville is making the most of his extra year. Last Saturday, the ancient linebacker picked off a pass against Southern and rumbled to the end zone for the first touchdown of his career. A play that won him the game ball from Kelly. Here was the head coach’s reasoning:

“Yeah, well, he got the game ball tonight. You know, we give a game ball out and very easily you could have given it to somebody on offense with all the production. But, you know, we felt that Micah’s production — what he does on special teams, what he does on third down, he’s outstanding in past coverage — that he really adds a dimension to our defense. That’s really important. And so the selflessness that he’s displayed, we wanted to reward that with the game ball.”

CLICK HERE to subscribe for FREE to the On3 YouTube channel

A long road to a game ball for Baskerville. A selfless leader in the locker room who is making plays on the field as well, according to Brian Kelly. Good for Micah. Now, check out that sweet pick-six from Saturday one more time.

WATCH: Micah Baskerville returns interception 28-yards for touchdown vs Southern

LSU steamrolled the Southern Jaguars on Saturday night in Baton Rouge. On one score, Desmond Little deflected the pass, and then linebacker Micah Baskerville intercepted the pass and took it 28-yards to pay-dirt. The pick-six put the Tigers up 28-0 and the first quarter was far from finished.

Check it out below.

PICK SIX TIGERS

📺 SEC Network pic.twitter.com/jcBxf2n5of

— LSU Football (@LSUfootball) September 11, 2022

Baskerville was named to the Butkus Award Watch List ahead of the 2022 season. He finished second on the team with 83 tackles during the 2021 season. In 40 games thus far in his career, Baskerville has racked up 171 career tackles, 18 tackles for loss, and three sacks. He’s started 21 games in his LSU career so far.

LSU was up 37-0 at the end of the first quarter, the most points scored in a quarter in program history.