Johnson’s versatility comes in handy for LSU

• By GEORGE MORRIS
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Oct 23, 2008 - Page: 1C - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

• Print
• Email
• Save
• Twitter
• Social Media

• Del.icio.us
• Digg
• Facebook
• Reddit
• 

What do you do if you arrive in a college football program with players like Melvin Oliver, Chase Pittman, Tyson Jackson and Kirston Pittman at the position you want to play?

If you’re LSU’s Tremaine Johnson, you become versatile.

You don’t learn to play just left defensive end; you learn right end, too. You learn to play defensive tackle and nose guard. You make yourself valuable enough that whenever there’s a need on the field, you become an option.

A frequently used option.

A senior, Johnson has just two starts in his career, but many plays. His versatility has earned him playing time on a line loaded with talent, and earned him the respect of his peers, who sometimes need analogies from other sports to describe him.

“Tremaine is a utility player,” said junior defensive end Rahim Alem. “He could do anything on the defensive line. He knows all the assignments. He’s a real veteran that you could put anywhere, wherever the team needs.

“He’s probably the only one who could play all four positions and really be comfortable. … He’s a big reason why we have that flexibility.”

Defensive line flexibility was on full display in LSU’s 24-17 victory over South Carolina. With the Gamecocks unable to run the football, the Tigers frequently used a package of four defensive ends — Jackson, Johnson, Alem and Pittman — to turn up the heat on quarterback Stephen Garcia. Each of this quartet, which the Tigers call “Express” when on the field at the same time, participated in one or more of the six sacks recorded in the game. Each can play inside or out.

Johnson got his sack in acrobatic fashion. A Carolina lineman dove to cut Johnson’s legs out from under him. He nearly succeeded, but Johnson got a hand on the ground, retained his balanced and dropped Garcia for a 6-yard loss.

“I had kind of picked up on their cadence, and once he said the last part of the cadence I knew the ball was coming so I just jumped it,” Johnson said. “He tried to cut my inside leg and I tried to avoid it. He was right there and I jumped on him.”

“That … was just a great personal effort,” said coach Les Miles. “There was no coordinated pass rush. It was just a natural reaction. He’s having a really strong year, and deservedly. He’s paid a tremendous price and worked hard and now he’s reaping the benefits of the fact that he’s prepared to go on the field, really, at defensive end or three technique.”

That is LSU-speak for defensive tackle, where Rickey Jean-Francois, Charles Alexander and Marlon Favorite normally patrol. Jean-Francois has missed the past two games with a groin injury suffered in the Mississippi State game, and Alexander blew out a knee last September. Though LSU’s tackles are capable of rushing the passer, for sheer speed, nothing beats the Express.

Johnson got a head-start on versatility. At Galena Park (Texas) High School, his coach, Mike Coker, insisted defensive ends played both sides of the line.