If Blake Baker’s defense is going to play like that, LSU is a title contender
By Les East
Published:
LSU opened the season with a championship defensive performance.
It’s been a while since the Tigers have had one of those.
But if the performance of Blake Baker’s defense represents a new standard in Baton Rouge, LSU could be a national championship contender.
In No. 9 LSU’s 17-10 victory over No. 4 Clemson on Saturday night, Baker coordinated a defense that smothered the home team’s running game and harassed and frustrated QB Cade Klubnik.
Clemson ran the ball 20 times and gained 31 yards for a 1.6-yard average. As for Klubnik, he completed just half his passes (19 of 38) for 230 yards and threw an interception and no touchdown passes. He was sacked just 2 times, but that doesn’t quantify the duress under which he operated as well as the 5 quarterback hurries do.
It was the type of performance that head coach Brian Kelly envisioned when he hired Baker, a former Tigers assistant, away from Mizzou before the 2024 season.
But Kelly never saw what he was hoping for and LSU finished 51st in the country in run defense, 59th in scoring defense, 61st in total defense and 76th in pass defense a year ago.
The Tigers didn’t have enough playmakers or depth, and things got worse when star linebacker Harold Perkins suffered a season-ending knee injury in the fourth game of the season.
Kelly still believed in Baker, but he knew his coordinator didn’t have enough tools to work with. So he rebuilt his defensive roster, leaning heavily on the transfer portal.
Of the 14 LSU defenders that made a tackle against Clemson, 7 didn’t play for the Tigers in 2024.
The infusion of talent had 2 major effects. In addition to obviously enhancing the overall talent on defense, it also made life easier for the returning leaders, such as Perkins, Whit and West Weeks, and PJ Woodland.
The impact of Perkins was most striking. He was 1 of the most decorated freshmen in the country in 2022, but fell off in 2023 and 2024 before being injured, largely because the coaching staff kept moving him around to try and mask deficiencies elsewhere on the defense.
On Saturday, Baker was secure that the players surrounding Perkins could handle their responsibilities and he allowed Perkins to be Perkins, and he resembled the player he was as a freshman.
On Clemson’s final possession of the game, Klubnik drove Clemson from its 43 to the LSU 15, but faced a 4th and 4. Baker turned Perkins loose and he chased down Klubnik, whose desperation toss fell harmlessly to the ground.
Clemson finished with 261 total yards and failed to score during the final 34-plus minutes, though it did drive into field-goal range on the first possession of the second half, but Nolan Hauser was wide right on a 48-yard field-goal attempt.
Later in the quarter Virginia Tech transfer Mansoor Delane intercepted Klubnik, the biggest highlight in a very active performance by Delane.
The point total that LSU allowed to the preseason pick to win the ACC matched the lowest total allowed last season (against South Alabama and Arkansas) and the yardage total was lower than that of each of the 13 opponents last season.
Of course there were other key contributors to the Tigers’ first victory in a season opener since their national championship season in 2019.
Garrett Nussmeier passed for 230 yards and a touchdown and did not throw an interception. Caden Durham ran for a touchdown and the rebuilt offensive line more than held its own against one of the most vaunted defensive fronts in the country.
But before Saturday night it was generally accepted that if LSU was going to return to the CFP for the first time since that last title season, it was going to require dramatic improvement by the defense.
The first performance undoubtedly showed dramatic improvement.
Kelly was quick to point out after the game that a very long season remains, and it will feature more ranked opponents.
But if that performance by the defense is indicative of what the norm will be the rest of the way, the Tigers’ ceiling has just been raised.
As good as Nussmeier was, he knew what the lead was when he opened his postgame interview.
“How about that defense?” Nussmeier said.
Les East is a New Orleans-based football writer who covers LSU for SaturdayDownSouth.com. Follow him on Twitter @Les_East.
