BATON ROUGE — In a battle of two of the nation’s top defenses last Saturday, LSU came out on top and as a result the Tigers continue to be ranked among the top five in the country in several defensive categories through the first two weeks of the season.
Against Virginia Tech, LSU put together one of its most dominating performances in recent history, limiting the Hokies to only 149 yards of offense and just a third quarter touchdown in the 48-7 victory. Virginia Tech crossed midfield only twice against LSU and managed just one redzone chance in the defeat.
For the game, LSU held the Hokies to drives of five plays or less on nine of their 12 possessions. The Hokies had only one drive that was longer than 30 yards and they had just one play of 20 yards or better.
In two games this season, LSU had allowed its opponents to enter the redzone just one time. In addition, in 26 possessions this year against LSU, opponents have managed just one drive of great than 35 yards, which came last week when Virginia Tech had an 8-play, 65-yard scoring drive in the third quarter against the Tigers.
Through two games, the Tigers have yielded just seven points, or an average of 3.5 points per game, which ranks No. 3 in the nation. In addition, LSU is No. 3 in the nation in total defense, holding opponents to 147.5 yards per game. Iowa leads the nation in scoring defense at 1.5 points per game, while Ohio State is tops in total defense with 122.5 yards per contest.
The Tigers, who have yet to allow a passing TD this year, are No. 1 in the country in pass efficiency defense with a 43.51 rating. LSU’s seven interceptions rank as the third-highest total, while the Tigers’ eight turnovers gained is No. 4 in the nation.
Other top 10 national rankings for the Tiger defense include a No. 2 rating in turnover margin (+4.0), No. 7 in pass defense (107.0 yards per game) and No. 7 in third down percentage with a 17.9 percent success rate for the opposition.
Offensively, the Tigers are 11th in the nation in scoring with an average of 46.5 points per game and they are 24th in the country in total offense with 472.5 yards per game.
Individually, LSU safety Craig Steltz ranks first in the nation in interceptions with four through the first two games of the season. Steltz tied a school record with three interceptions in the season opener against Mississippi State and then added another one against Virginia Tech.
LSU returns to action on Saturday when they host Middle Tennessee at 7 p.m. in Tiger Stadium. 
ESPN’s College GameDay will be in Baton Rouge this weekend for second-ranked LSU’s game against ninth-ranked Virginia Tech. Many consider the LSU-Virginia Tech matchup one of this year’s top non-conference contests in college football.
Last week LSU (1-0 overall, 1-0 SEC) extended the nation’s fourth-longest winning streak to eight games, shutting-out Mississippi State 45-0 and holding them to only 10 yards of offense.
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Jason Robertson is a husband and a father and a pastor. He is dedicated to leading and equipping his the Church with God’s word and biblical theology for life ministry, using a combination of pastoral, church planting and evangelism experience. He holds a Master of Divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He is experienced in church planting, evangelism, missions, and the training of pastors and Bible teachers.
Jason has been preaching the gospel since 1985, serving the first ten years of ministry as a Southern Baptist itinerant evangelist out of Milldale Baptist Church in Zachary, LA which ordained him in 1993. He has preached in hundreds of churches in over 30 States and 4 countries. He planted churches in Siberia, Russia in the summers of 1993 and 1994. He founded Murrieta Valley Church in California, which he planted in cooperation with the SBC NAMB in 2001. He also teaches ministry students at California Baptist University.
You can hear his sermons and read his manuscripts on sermonaudio.com. Just follow the link to "sermons" at the top of this page.
I’ll be watching. Geaux Tigers!
Also on the line tonight will be LSU’s 13-game winning streak, one that stretches back to the 2005 season. LSU won all eight home games a year ago and the Tigers are 13-1 in Tiger Stadium under Miles.
As of right now, it’s 41-7 with 9:29 left in the game. Looks like the winning streak will remain intact. Gene doesn’t know what he’s missing!
Va Tech has not impressed me this year.
However over rated they are, LSU is underrated. They are clearly the number one team in the nation.
Auburn however just moved into Michigan’s neighborhood.
Overall, the big conferences have not proved themselves worthy this year.
And How about adding a real translation to your translation post
The NET Bible.
what’s mel brooks doing surrounded by all those college babes?
Come on now it was bad, but Miss. State had 146 yards of offense. 136 passing and 10 yards rushing. MSU had 9 first downs. How could you do that on 10 yards of offense? I know sacks go against yardage, but our QB mostly chose to be intercepted rather than take a sack.
If you get sloppy with football stats, then you may be sloppy elsewhere as well……….