Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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30 JANUARY 2018 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED in the team's regular-season finale against Texas A&M. "I think he's just a gritty, hard- nosed player that's going to give it all he's got," Scarborough said. "You know his limitations going into it, but if he's got a running game go- ing at the same time and [offensive coordinator Matt] Canada dials up the right plays Etling can make some passes that can hurt you. "The worry with Etling is if LSU gets behind and you're going to need a victory through the air, you're probably going to be in trouble." Senior wideout DJ Chark is Etling's favorite target with 35 receptions for 811 yards and three touchdowns. He's the only Tiger with more than 22 re- ceptions heading into the Citrus Bowl. "You had games this season where the LSU receivers led the team in rush- ing and you had the running backs leading the team in receptions," Scar- borough said. "Chark is the guy, but Russell Gage, Stephen Sullivan, Dee Anderson and others have made some nice catches in pivotal moments. That's a big reason, for the class of 2018, LSU is out beating the bushes and that's one of the biggest needs in the recruiting class for LSU to get that wide receiver corps back up to speed." Like most seasons, the Tigers boast a strong defense on all three levels. This year's unit ranked 16th nationally in scoring defense (18.8 points allowed per game) and 23rd in rushing defense (126.4 yards allowed per contest). Up front LSU is led by junior hybrid linebacker/defensive end Arden Key (33 tackles and 4.0 sacks), senior de- fensive end Christian LaCouture (63 tackles and 6.0 sacks) and senior nose tackle Greg Gilmore (51 tackles and 6.5 sacks). Key gets most of the publicity as a potential high-end first-round draft pick, but it's a well-rounded group making life difficult on opponents on the ground and through the air. "You have some upperclassmen there, that makes a world of dif- ference," Scarborough said of the group. "I think it's kind of balanced, but maybe [better] off the edge." The second level of LSU's defense is led by star sophomore linebacker Devin White, who amassed 127 tack- les — more than twice as many than the team's No. 2 tackler LaCouture. "To me, Devin White is the MVP of the team," Scarborough said. "Proba- bly should have been Defensive Player of the Year in the SEC. Those awards go to [players from] the higher-ranked team. He's just unbelievable. "He's only a sophomore, but if he was a junior and went out there is no doubt in my mind that he would be a high pick and maybe the first line- backer selected." When it comes to talented defen- sive backs, LSU may be the first pro- gram that comes to mind with re- cent alumni such as Patrick Peterson, Tyrann Mathieu, Jamal Adams and Tre'Davious White making an impact in the NFL in recent years. This season is no different with cor- nerbacks Kevin Toliver, Donte Jack- son and Andraez "Greedy" Williams at cornerback, and Grant Delpit and John Battle at safety. The group com- piled 10 interceptions and 40 passes defended during the regular season. "Typical 'DB U' thing," Scarbor- ough noted. "… Nobody could have projected the season that [Williams] had as a redshirt freshman. Delpit has gotten better each week. It's a typical, strong LSU defensive back group. "LSU's defensive backs always have the ideal measurables. The 6-foot-1, 6-foot-2 guys that have long arms and can turn his hips, ball hawks, tenacious." Heading into this matchup, LSU resembles most of its previous teams in terms of strengths with some new wrinkles on offense, including jet sweeps and more wide receiver motions. There will likely be ques- tions if the Irish can stop a powerful LSU rushing attack, but Scarborough thinks that will only fuel Notre Dame leading up to the game. "When you start hearing that kind of talk before bowl practices even start, you got to believe Notre Dame's defensive line and front seven are go- ing to be motivated to show everyone what they can do," Scarborough said. "To me that's going to be insane moti- vation for Notre Dame. "Look at that Music City Bowl [when the Irish defeated the Tigers 31-28 in 2014], that was a game where there wasn't a whole lot of motivation for LSU because it wasn't the type of season LSU wanted to have. … You go over there and underestimate an opponent and lose the game." ✦ GAME PREVIEW: LSU 2017 LSU SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Sept. 2 vs. BYU* W, 27-0 Sept. 9 Chattanooga W, 45-10 Sept. 16 at Mississippi State L, 37-7 Sept. 23 Syracuse W, 35-26 Sept. 30 Troy L, 24-21 Oct. 7 at Florida W, 17-16 Oct. 14 Auburn W, 27-23 Oct. 21 at Mississippi W, 40-24 Nov. 4 at Alabama L, 24-10 Nov. 11 Arkansas W, 33-10 Nov. 18 at Tennessee W, 30-10 Nov. 25 Texas A&M W, 45-21 Jan. 1 vs. Notre Dame^ (ABC) 1 p.m. * at the Superdome in New Orleans ^ Citrus Bowl at Orlando, Fla. Senior defensive end Christian LaCouture notched 63 tackles, 8.5 stops behind the line of scrimmage and 6.0 sacks during the regular season. PHOTO BY CHRIS PARENT/LSU ATHLETICS 2017 NOTRE DAME SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Sept. 2 Temple W, 49-16 Sept. 9 Georgia L, 20-19 Sept. 16 at Boston College W, 49-20 Sept. 23 at Michigan State W, 38-18 Sept. 30 Miami (Ohio) W, 52-17 Oct. 7 North Carolina W, 33-10 Oct. 21 USC W, 49-14 Oct. 28 North Carolina State W, 35-14 Nov. 4 Wake Forest W, 48-37 Nov. 11 at Miami (Fla.) L, 41-8 Nov. 18 Navy W, 24-17 Nov. 25 at Stanford L, 38-20 Jan. 1 vs. LSU^ (ABC) 1 p.m. ^ Citrus Bowl at Orlando, Fla.