GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
New LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker is likely on his way to winning the Frank Broyles assistant coach of the year award for his drastic turnaround of one of the worst defense in the country last year into perhaps the most improved.
Outside linebacker Whit Weeks has been all over the field so much making all kinds of plays that he has made people forget about injured linebacker Harold Perkins Jr. And he has rekindled memories of former LSU defensive back Tyrann “Honey Badger” Mathieu from the 2010 and ’11 seasons. He plays so much like Mathieu that Weeks has earned a nickname – the “Honky” Badger.
Defensive end Bradyn Swinson is second in the Southeastern Conference in sacks with 7.0 on the season and is nearing the school record for sacks in a season, which was 12 by outside linebacker Arden Key in 2016.
But there is another reason Baker’s new system is working so well for the No. 8 Tigers (6-1, 3-0 SEC), who play at No. 14 Texas A&M (6-1, 4-0 SEC) on Saturday (6:30 p.m., ABC) in a key league tilt with title implications. Senior Zy Alexander is the Tigers’ shut-down cornerback in every sense of the word.
In five games this season, Alexander has 12 tackles, and incredibly 11 of those are solo. Meaning he is usually in man-to-man coverage. And if he had missed some of those tackles, it could have meant a touchdown or a long gain. The transfer from Southeastern Louisiana after the 2022 season, also has two interceptions and three pass breakups.
Alexander’s over-the-shoulder interception of Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart in the end zone – almost as if he was the intended receiver – stopped a potential touchdown drive in the Tigers’ 29-26 overtime win over the No. 9 Rebels on Oct. 12 in Tiger Stadium. Ole Miss had reached LSU’s 35-yard line and was threatening to take a 23-16 or 27-16 lead in the fourth quarter before Alexander’s play.
“They motioned in, and they tried to pick me,” Alexander said. “But you know, I stayed with my man. The ball went up, and I went out and grabbed it.”
Alexander tends to doggedly stay with his man and usually gives up zero ground.
Alexander was targeted 10 times against Ole Miss by coach Lane Kiffin and Dart and allowed only 27 yards in receptions with the interception, a pass breakup and five solo tackles. LSU coach Brian Kelly sure noticed. He gave him the game ball, even though Weeks had an incredible 18 tackles that night with 11 solos, a sack, another stop for a loss, a forced fumble and a quarterback hurry.
Make that two injuries. Alexander came back from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee suffered in the Army game on Oct. 21, 2023, that knocked him out of the rest of that season. He sat out the opener this season against USC as he gradually returned from that injury. Then he suffered a concussion against UCLA in week four this season and missed the South Alabama game before returning just in time for Ole Miss.
Then last Saturday in LSU’s 34-10 domination at Arkansas, Alexander started and played most of the game. But Arkansas learned from the Ole Miss game and barely targeted him. Some LSU fans wondered if he missed the game with another injury, but no, his name just wasn’t called much. Because Arkansas apparently wanted no part of him.
“He’s a sure tackler, and it starts with that,” Kelly said on the SEC teleconference Wednesday. “He’s physical. He’s a physical player down the field. In other words, he will not get knocked off the ball (in coverage). He’s not a guy that you can widen or press him out of position. He’s physical on body.”
So, opposing coaches may be deciding to leave his side alone because of the hard-nosed, physical blanket of coverage with which he smothers receivers.
“And that, in some instances, discourages teams to look at that match-up as a favorable one-on-one match-up,” Kelly said. “So, it’s physicality at the end of the day and tackling and in coverage down the field. He’s not a guy who’s going to play off and play soft, and let the ball come to him.”
Kelly’s only concern about Alexander may be if he just gets bored with no one throwing his way.
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