‘Revenge’ on the mind of LSU defense

By Hunt Palmer

When fans storm the field, memories are made.

Ole Miss’s, 55-49, win over LSU last season sent thousands of blue and red-clad Rebel fans down onto the Vaught-Hemingway Stadium field to rejoice. The game featured 1,343 yards of offense, 14 touchdowns and a score with 39 seconds to play to put the Rebels in front.

It was a classic. Just don’t ask LSU linebacker Greg Penn about it.

“I don’t think about it much, I ain’t going to lie to you” Penn said with a wry grin. “I just think about, as a defense, how we didn’t do what we were supposed to do to help the offense win that game.”

While yielding 55 points and 706 yards leaves a bitter taste, Penn and the Tiger defense can use the nightmare from last season as a learning experience and motivation for Saturday night’s rematch with Ole Miss.

“Major (Burns) called me last night. He was watching some film and saw something, and I was like, ‘yeah, bro, we owe them,’” Penn said. “So, we’re trying to lock in. We know what happened last year. Last year is last year, but it’s still in the back of our minds.”

For some it may be in the back, but for others that revenge narrative is front and center.

“I’m sure the fans know that we’re out for revenge,” said senior defensive end Sai’vion Jones. “What happened to us last year, how they stormed the field. Not only the players, but the fans are excited to have that rematch.”

More than 100,000 fans will pack Tiger Stadium on Saturday night. The crowd advantage Ole Miss enjoyed a season ago will flip to the Tigers. Gone is Heisman winner Jayden Daniels who matched Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart throw for throw last year.

Now it’s junior signal caller Garrett Nussmeier’s turn to try his hand.

Nussmeier and Dart have been as productive as any quarterbacks in the SEC. The duo ranks first and second in passing yards per game, passing touchdowns and completions to this point.

Nussmeier wasn’t biting Tuesday when asked whether or not he felt Saturday would be a showcase of two of the best quarterbacks in the SEC.

“I would say Saturday’s game is LSU versus Ole Miss,” he said, chuckling.

Nussmeier didn’t stop there completely, but he dismissed the revenge factor personally.

“This is a new team. This a new situation, a new season,” Nussmeier said. “Everything’s different. I think we’ve done a good job thus far at not focusing on who we’re playing. I’m thinking about it as a faceless opponent.”

Both teams do have new pieces, many of them on defense. LSU head coach Brian Kelly said Wednesday that he believed that evening in Oxford likely spurred on those changes.

“I wouldn’t go away saying it was prolific offense. I think it was bad defense by both teams,” Kelly said. “Ole Miss made changes with their personnel. We made changes with our coaching staff. That’s what lingers…clearly not up to the standard of what SEC defense should look like, and both teams took action.”

LSU’s new defensive coordinator Blake Baker has preached assignment football since arriving back in Baton Rouge. That chorus has continued throughout the open date and into game week. Whether revenge is a motive or not, the Tiger defense knows they must be ready.

“We know in order to get revenge, we have to do our job,” Jones said. “I feel like knowing what we have to do going into the game keeps us in check emotionally.”

The Tigers have had a year to stew on last season’s heartbreaker. Now two weeks have separated the last game from this Top 10 showdown in Tiger Stadium.

Penn acknowledged the bye week came at a good time physically for the team, but mentally, the anticipation is growing.

“I feel great. I feel like I’m ready to go,” Penn said sitting up in his chair. “I’m just ready to play, man. The stuff I want to say, I can’t really say. But I’m just ready to play.”