Satisfying win for defense

• By SCOTT HOTARD
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Nov 1, 2009

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LSU led early. The points kept coming. Much of the crowd dispersed.

On the LSU sideline, defensive players kept looking up at the two numbers on the Tiger Stadium scoreboard that never changed.

The double zeros.

But really, the Tigers turned their focus to a shutout long before Saturday night’s second half. Even before Tulane ran onto the field in its bright, solid-green attire for the opening kickoff.

“We were talking about that before the game even started,” defensive end Pep Levingston said.

Then again, the Tigers always do. They talked about it before playing Georgia. They talked about it before playing Florida. They’ll talk about it next week as well.

“We try to get a shutout every time,” Levingston said. “You’re selling yourself short as a defensive unit if you go in not trying to do that.”

In their eighth try, the Tigers got it right.

The 42-0 demolition marked LSU’s first shutout in the Tulane series since a 27-0 victory 40 years ago. It marked LSU’s first shutout, period, since a 45-0 blanking of Mississippi State in the 2007 season opener.

“It’s definitely a good feeling to get that goose egg up there,” linebacker Jacob Cutrera said. “It’s something we’ve been working toward all year.”

A goose egg. That’s about the only thing this defense lacked.

A slide last year led LSU coach Les Miles to John Chavis, the architect of great Tennessee defenses. The hire fueled renewed swagger at a school with a tradition for such things.

A bumpy start came in the season opener. Washington rolled up 478 yards, evoking bad memories in fans who watched LSU surrender 50 points to two 2008 opponents.