Remember when LSU football had a dominant defense?

LSU football no longer has a strong defense we can even trust anymore.

It wasn’t all that long ago that LSU football was defined by its menacing defense.

We all remember the Game of the Century back in 2011 vs. the Alabama Crimson Tide. If you love defense, that’s what that unforgettable game was all about. Though the LSU Tigers won it all a season ago with its greatest offense ever, head coach Ed Orgeron could not be more frustrated over what he’s seen out of his defense in Week 6 vs. the lowly Missouri Tigers on the road.

This is not the type of cultural departure LSU was ever anticipating

Historically, when we think about LSU football, we remember dominating defensive backs like Tommy Casanova, Tyrann Mathieu and Patrick Peterson making big time plays for their team. Though they’ll have star offensive players as well from Billy Cannon to Kevin Faulk to Odell Beckham Jr. to Joe Burrow, we understand firmly how LSU routinely wins big as a program.

For Orgeron to be this visibly concerned about his defense speaks volumes. At his core, he is a tremendous defensive line coach. Though more of an energy guy, a recruiter and a CEO type of a coach, he is not getting what he signed up for with Bo Pelini serving as the Bayou Bengals’ new defensive coordinator. Too bad Orgeron can’t pry Dave Aranda away from the Baylor Bears now.

What we’re understanding right now is last season was an anomaly for the LSU football program. Sure, they might get a great quarterbacking season out of a Bert Jones, a Zach Mettenberger or a Burrow every now and then, but when LSU can’t stop a nosebleed defensively, the Tigers are going to have a bad time. I mean, they can’t even cover a Mizzou wideout on the road in Week 6, guys!

Orgeron may be able to recruit blue-chip talent to Baton Rouge continuously, but if this is the type of defense we need to grow accustomed to with LSU, then we can’t really expect the Tigers to contend for SEC Championships outside of that one magical year anymore. How are you going to beat stout defensive teams like Alabama or the Georgia Bulldogs regularly with this nonsense?

LSU is still a great football program, but we can no longer say it’s a defense-first one any more.

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