LSU senior Sage Ryan met with reporters on Tuesday. He talked about Blake Bakers impact on the LSU defense, his journey through three positions at LSU and his big hit at Arkansas. Here’s what he had to say.
On the defensive front helping the defensive backs…
“The front seven plays a huge role in our defense, just bringing that energy back, that old LSU defensive feeling back. We work hard to do this consistently every week. We’re going to do it every week. We’ve got the guys to do it. Just to trust in Coach Baker’s plans every week and try to be consistent. And just go out here and play fast, free and physical every week.”
On the DTs…
“They dominate the line of scrimmage and help us read our keys. They help the linebackers for sure. They’re great gap integrity guys. They don’t try to be the hero up front. They do their job consistently, and it helps us be more physical up front.”
Is he surprised by the DTs play, specifically the young players?
“When you step on campus. There’s no such thing as a freshman anymore. That’s the thing Coach Baker harps on. When you’re out there, you’re not a freshman, you’re a vet. We have a standard we upheld at the beginning of the season. It doesn’t matter which classification they are. They play like veterans. That’s huge for us.”
Where he has grown as a player…
“I’ve grown as a leader. Especially in the back end, you’ve got to communicate a lot. Just to be able to point guys in the right position. Guys actually trust me to be a leader in the back end. I make most of the calls, most of the checks at the free safety position. For those guys to trust me to do that means a lot to me. That’s basically the area that I’ve grown in. My communication and leadership.”
Were you pushed by coaches to that leadership?
“I didn’t have it at the beginning of my career. I was a lead by example guy. They kind of pushed me to be better in that aspect of the defense to communicate and be a leader in the back end. They kind of challenged me to embrace that role in the spring, so I took it and ran with it. I continue to get better at it every day. Kind of working on making the calls and the checks and all that.”
On settling in at safety…
“Yeah, it definitely has helped me. You know, I played all those positions, corner, safety, nickel. But to focus on one position at safety and just dial in on that, it helps me to play faster and just fly around to the ball.
On how difficult learning three positions can be…
“It’s very difficult. You gotta lock in one your keys a lot. You gotta kind of think about the game like playing chess to be honest. You just gotta be in the right spots at the right time, but I’m glad I focused on one position and dialed into that so that I can lock in and just be comfortable at one position.”
Are you a good chess player?
“No”
On Blake Baker earning the defense’s trust…
“That’s a good question. He comes in and works each and every day. It was kind of a learning curve at first, but he’s just a guy you can count on and trust because he brings the energy each and every day. He is just that guy. You want to play for Coach Baker. It’s not just gaining trust. He brings it every day. If y’all would want to come to play for LSU, y’all would want to play for Coach Baker.”
On a Blake Baker meeting…
“It’s full of jokes. He thinks he’s Kevin Hart sometimes when he cracks jokes, but I don’t think he’s that funny. He just brings energy throughout the meetings, and he gets you ready for practice every day.
How does Blake Baker get to know you?
“On a personal level he wans to get to know you. He wants you to do the right things on and off the field. He wants you to be a leader on and off the field…if you’re not doing the right things off the field, you’re not going to do them on the field. It just correlates. That’s huge for us that he cracks jokes. He’s not serious all the time. But he knows when business is business. I’m a father now, so he teaches me the role of how to be a father because he has kids. He teaches me examples of how to be a man off the field. That’s important to me.
Is your child a boy or a girl?
“Boy. Project Wembanyama on the way! Matter of fact, Project Tyrann Matheiu. He’s going to play DB.”
On how different the defense feels this year compared to last year…
“It does feel different. We’re not really focused on last year. We’re trying to stack days and be more consistent this year. We’ve got a streak going, so we just focus on consistency. That’s what’s important right now.”
On the big hit against Arkansas…
“It just was an instinct thing. I saw him coming across, and I just thought, ‘I gotta put a lick on him. It’s going to change the momentum of the game.’ It felt great, especially that it wasn’t called targeting. Everybody thought it was targeting. That’s a BS call. Football has kind of become soft a little bit in a way. Can of bringing that culture back. That hard hitting culture. Playing physical on the back end is important for us.”
On being conscious of targeting mid-play…
“I definitely was. In a way, it was a more instinctual thing to get my shoulder in instead of my head. Because I knew if I got my head in there they would have kicked me out. They were already trying to kick me out. So it was kind of instinctual to be honest.”
