Brian Kelly reveals how LSU defense limited air raid

The LSU Tigers’ defense was up to the task on Saturday of stopping Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach and his air raid offense. The Tigers held the Bulldogs to 16 points for the game, with only a field goal coming after halftime. Following the game, in a recent press conference, LSU head coach Brian Kelly revealed how his defense, led by defensive coordinator Matt House limited the Bulldogs’ air raid attack.

“Yeah, we had talked about it; the most important thing is you can’t give them a pre-snap look that is comfortable. And I think our players did an incredible job of following through with a game plan that gave him a pre-snap look and changed post-snap,” said Kelly.

“That’s the players being disciplined and mixing up calls. We played a lot of men on the back. We did not give them free jump-off to the back, which gets them in really favorable down in distant situations. It forced them to execute the ball down the field, which they hadn’t shown that they were going to push it vertically that far. So, I think the kids did a great job of executing the game plan, and Matt did a great job with the staff of putting together the kind of disguises necessary to go against the air raid.”

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The Tigers’ defense gave its offense some time to find its footing and make a comeback against the Bulldogs. At one point, LSU was down 13-0 in the second quarter but was able to outscore Mississippi State 31-3 from that point on to win the game 31-16. LSU’s defense limited Mississippi State to 24 completions on 42 attempts for 214 yards. They also only allowed one touchdown and picked off Will Rogers once.

LSU names Malik Nabers offensive captain for New Mexico matchup

The Tigers have announced the team’s offensive captain for the Week 4 matchup against New Mexico State. Joining BJ Ojulari, Ali Gaye, and Mike Jones Jr. this week will be wide receiver Malik Nabers as the Tigers’ captain for the offense. LSU made the announcement Friday afternoon from their Twitter account with this photo of the four players attached.

It has been a rollercoaster ride, to say the least, for Nabers to start the season. In LSU’s season opener against Florida State, he struggled with his ball security on special teams, muffing two punts. Afterward, he faced harsh scrutiny from the local media. LSU’s head coach Brian Kelly was also critical of his performance in the team’s postgame press conference. Since then, the sophomore from Youngsville, LA, has bounced back impressively for the Tigers. Over the past two games, Nabers has caught nine catches for 157 yards and one touchdown. The touchdown came in their Week 2 victory over the Southern Jaguars.

With opposing defenses paying great attention to LSU’s star receiver Kayshon Boutte, it has left Nabers in a prime position to pick up the slack. If he continues his upward trend in the offense, he can find himself succeeding Boutte as the Tigers’ top receiving threat next season. And even put himself in the same category of elite receivers from LSU to head to the NFL, such as Dwayne Bowe, Odell Beckham Jr., and Justin Jefferson, to name a few.