BATON ROUGE – The emergence of linebacker Whit Weeks along with the playmaking of defensive end Bradyn Swinson has helped elevate the LSU defense as the Tigers head into the Arkansas contest coming their best effort of the season last week in the win over Ole Miss.
Kickoff Saturday between the Tigers and Razorbacks is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. on ESPN. It’s also the Battle for the Boot, the annual trophy game between the teams that was established in 1996.
LSU (5-2, 2-0 SEC) enters the contest ranked No. 8 in the nation in both polls and riding a five-game winning streak. The Razorbacks are 4-2 overall and are coming off a 19-14 win over No. 4 Tennessee in their last action two weeks ago.
Last week in the win over the Rebels, the Tigers held the Ole Miss offense without a touchdown in the second half and then forced a 57-yard field goal in overtime to set up the victory. LSU won on its first play of overtime when Garrett Nussmeier hit Kyren Lacy with a 25-yard touchdown pass to clinch the victory.
It was the play of Weeks, Swinson and the rest of the defense that kept LSU in the game last week as the Tigers sacked Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart six times – two by Swinson and one by Weeks – and allowed the Rebels to score only three times in their six trips inside the redzone. Swinson came up with a critical tackle for no gain on fourth down on the LSU goal line that denied the Rebels a touchdown in one of their redzone trips midway through the first quarter.
Weeks, the SEC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against Ole Miss, set a career-best with 18 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble in the LSU victory. His sack came on the final play of regulation and sent the game into overtime, while his forced fumble led to an LSU field goal just before halftime.
“His athleticism allows him to play fast, instinctive, and do things in pass coverage,” Kelly said of Weeks. “He plays with an energy and kind of that throwback at the linebacker position that generates a lot of excitement amongst the group.
“When Whit is in the game, he elevates the players around him and that’s what he brings more than anything else.”
Weeks leads the SEC in total tackles with 59 as he’s recorded double-digit tackles in three games this season. He had 11 tackles in wins over South Carolina and South Alabama.
As for Swinson, he’s second in the SEC and fifth in the FBS in total sacks with seven. He had three sacks against South Carolina and two against both UCLA and Ole Miss. Swinson has been named SEC Defensive Player of the Week once and SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week twice this year, including this week after his 8-tackle, 2-sack effort against Ole Miss.
“I think he’s thinking the right way,” Kelly said of Swinson. “They (LSU defense) are thinking the right way about how to play defense and not overanalyzing. The essence of great defense is that balance where you structurally have to be in position to defend some intricate schemes, but you have to be able to let them play fast.
“I think we have struck a pretty note where they feel like they can line up and go without fear of ‘well, I’m in the wrong place’. I think you are seeing that without a lot of our players in particular a guy like Swinson.”
Other defensive leaders for LSU through six games of the season include linebacker Greg Penn (47 tackles), defensive end Sai’vion Jones (21 tackles, 5.5 TFL, 4.5 sacks), star Major Burns (33 tackles, 4 TFL), cornerback Ashton Stamps (23 tackles, 6 PBUs) and cornerback Zy Alexander (12 tackles, 3 PBUs, 2 interceptions).
Against Arkansas, the Tigers will face an offensive unit that is averaging 33.0 points and 484.8 total yards (199.5 rushing, 285.3 passing). Arkansas, behind the play of quarterback Taylen Green, leads the SEC and ranks No. 8 in the FBS in third-down conversion rate at 53 percent (47-of-89).
Green has passed for 1,502 yards and five scores and added another 326 yards and four scores on the ground. Arkansas running back Ja’Quinden Jackson is third in the SEC in both rushing yards per game (94.3) and rushing TDs (10).
Last year, LSU kicked a field goal with five seconds left in the contest to win, 34-31, in Tiger Stadium.