'D' shines, but Tigers still fall

• By GEORGE MORRIS
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Nov 8, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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If someone had told LSU’s defenders that they would hold Alabama to 138 rushing yards (67 below its per game average) and almost six minutes under its normal time of possession, they’d have expected a better result than Saturday’s 27-21 overtime loss.

In fact, defensive end Tyson Jackson acted like he’d received the postgame stats sometime Saturday morning, which made the outcome all the more bitter.

“I believed it,” an emotional Jackson said. “I know how our defense could play. I knew we’d arrive, and it happened tonight. We were sound. We were communicating.”

And doing so better than any time this season, at least against the Southeastern Conference’s elite. This was especially true in the first half.

Through two quarters, Alabama had 53 rushing yards, and its only scoring drive took just 15 yards after the first of two Rashad Johnson interceptions. The Tide had marched 63 yards on its opening possession, but Chad Jones stripped the ball from receiver Earl Alexander just short of the goal line to snuff out a threat before any damage could be done.

Except for the second possession of the third quarter, when Bama went 69 yards in seven plays to take a 21-14 lead, LSU’s defense gave up yards and points grudgingly. Rickey Jean-Francois blocked Leigh Tiffin’s 29-yard field goal attempt to force overtime.

“That defense, wow,” LSU coach Les Miles said. “That’s defense that I can appreciate, that defense right there.

“I thought they played with fire and heart. … I liked the tackles that were made. I liked the guys up front, the fighting. I thought that they covered well. I thought that they played a very good football game today.”

Such was not the case in LSU’s 51-21 loss to Florida, when the Tigers surrendered 475 yards, or the 52-38 loss to Georgia, when they were gashed for 443 yards, including consecutive scoring plays of 49 and 68 yards.

Such outcomes had LSU fans questioning the worth of co-defensive coordinators Bradley Dale Peveto and Doug Mallory and had Miles trying to explain how good players were abandoning their responsibilities trying to make spectacular plays.

All of the above may get a week off from scrutiny. They seem to appreciate that idea.

“I think the sense of urgency of the defense was definitely raised more this game,” said defensive tackle Marlon Favorite. “The mind-set up front was just be gap sound, play your game, play within the schemes we played all week. … For most of the game, we did a pretty good job of that. We showed we improved. This was the best I’ve seen this team as a whole the whole season.”

The Crimson Tide had a handful of big plays, and none more damaging than receiver Julio Jones’ acrobatic, 24-yard catch and run in overtime that set up quarterback John Parker Wilson’s 1-yard quarterback sneak for the winning touchdown. But LSU forced Alabama to punt seven times, tying its season high, and had a stretch of seven consecutive possessions where the Tide came up empty.