LSU's defense will be tested in Fiesta Bowl

Defense was behind this season’s statement win.

Back on Oct. 13, LSU’s defense held high-powered, and defending SEC champion, Georgia to a mere 322 yards, sacked star quarterback Jake Fromm, who entered that particular game ranked fourth nationally in passing efficiency, a total of three times and forced two turnovers.

Led by its defense, LSU dominated then-No. 2 Georgia for a 36-16 victory in front of more than 100,000 fans, many of whom would storm the field afterward in celebration of the program’s best performance in years.

The defense that helped give LSU its signature win won’t be taking the field Tuesday in Glendale, Arizona, for this season’s PlayStation Fiesta Bowl.

LSU will be down six starters from that Georgia victory for at least part of the game against UCF, and down five for the entirety of the game.

Defensive end Breiden Fehoko, defensive tackle Ed Alexander, cornerbacks Greedy Williams, Kristian Fulton and Kelvin Joseph will miss the entire game as Fehoko and Fulton had season-ending surgeries, Alexander and Williams are bypassing the bowl game to focus on the NFL Draft, and Joseph will miss the game due to a violation of team rules.

That is a loss of 114 tackles, 3 interceptions, 20 pass breakups and 7 tackles for a loss. More importantly, it is the loss of 52 games played and 36 games started this season.

That means that younger (read: more inexperienced) players such as defensive tackle Tyler Shelvin (5 games, 0 starts, eight tackles), Stanford grad transfer cornerback Terrence Alexander (12 games, four starts, 23 tackles, 0 int), Kary Vincent Jr. (12 games, six starts, 30 tackle, on interception), Mannie Netherly (11 games, 0 starts, two tackles) and wide receiver turned defensive back Jontre Kirklin will be counted on to step up and make plays.

“Those guys are going to have to do good things for us,” LSU head coach Ed Orgeron said. “They’re going to have to be ready to play. We have some emergency guys that are going to practice this week unless two or three guys get hurt. We should be fine.”

In addition to those players missing the entire game, starting middle linebacker Jacob Phillips (83 tackles, 5.5 tackles for a loss) will miss the first half of the bowl game for being ejected from the Texas A&M game for targeting, and senior safety John Battle (37 tackles, three interceptions) will likely be reprimanded by being forced to either not start the game and miss a quarter or a few series for throwing punches in the melee that occurred following the seven-overtime loss to the Aggies.

“We’re playing — Eric Monroe is going to be playing some,” LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda said. “We’ve got John (Battle). John is in there playing some. JaCoby (Stevens) is in there. He’s been down low at linebacker spot, kind of our corner spot quite a bit. We’re playing him deep a little bit more. More guys having to take on a little more roles.”

“Tyler Shelvin has had a tremendous bowl preparation,” Orgeron said. “Glen Logan is also going to play some nose tackle. Dominic Livingston can play nose tackle if we need him. Also we can Davin Cotton at nose tackle. Those are four guys who can play nose tackle if needed.”

Being forced to play that many unexperienced players isn’t ideal especially when facing an offense that averages 44 points per game and has the NCAA modern-era record for most consecutive games (25) with scoring at least 30 points.

“What makes UCF so unique is their use of tempo,” Aranda said. “So it does limit you in a traditional way of identifying, communicating, checking this, adjusting to that when they’re just on the ball so fast. Sometimes the ball is snapped within ten seconds.

“So there’s a lot of just ‘get lined up and playing’ and there’s more isolations. So those add to those inherent strengths that tempo gives when you are minus guys. So I think that’s what you start with.”

The Knights’ tempo didn’t slow down when starting quarterback McKenzie Milton was lost for the season due to a leg injury. Backup Darriel Mack racked up 407 total yards and six touchdowns in the AAC Championship game win over Memphis.

In addition to Mack, UCF has a 1,000-yard rusher in Greg McCrae (1,101, nine TDs) and a trio of wide receivers with at least 500 yards receiving, 40 receptions and four touchdowns.

Despite taking the field without a majority of its starters, UCF co-offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby isn’t expecting a drop off come Tuesday.

“LSU is LSU because of the way they’ve recruited,” Lebby said. “They’ve recruited really well. They’ve got incredible depth. That’s what’s made them them. To me and to us, who they put on the field will be really good. That’s who they are. That’s who they’ve been. They’ve got a bunch of depth. They’ve done a great job recruiting, and so regardless of who’s on the field, they’re going to be good football players.”

LSU’s Rashard Lawrence believes the Tigers are up to the challenge.

The Tigers defensive end said the matchup with UCF feels reminiscent of two years ago when LSU took on Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson of Louisville in the Citrus Bowl.

“I remember a couple of years ago, we played Lamar Jackson in the Citrus Bowl, and they were scoring on everybody, and he was scoring at will, and we kind of shut them down,” Lawrence said. “So a team like us that’s from the SEC playing an out-of-conference team that’s really good, we’re up to the challenge. We’re excited to do it. They definitely got talent, but we’ve got to match them physically.”

Alexander admits that Tuesday’s game will be a fight but one he and the Tigers are prepared for.

“They have a lot of fast players and they have a ton of speed, but so do we,” Alexander said. “Like I said, LSU is just focusing on our gameplan. They’re a really well-coached team. They don’t shy away from the game plan too often. There have been times they’ve been down and come back in. Even the last game, they found a way to win. It will be a fight. We just have to keep fighting.”