Pride and tradition are the two words best describing the uniforms LSU’s football team wore to honor their students who fought in WW1. LSU (5-2, 3-1 SEC) went into the game not only playing for the previous students, but also for the 101,340 fans who filled the stadium. The Tigers came out with a 19-3 victory over Mississippi State University (4-3, 1-3 SEC).
For MSU, the defense showed up and played for the team, and as Jeffrey Simmons, a junior from Macon said, they had the backs of the offense.
“It is a team thing, offense struggles, defense struggles sometimes,” Simmons said. “We play as a team. We got your six; every time we step on the field, we got your back. Our job is to have the offense’s back.”
The defense did so by fighting to keep the game within reach until the very end, as MSU was only down by two possessions at the end of the game. Simmons said fighting to keep the game so close came from within the players.
“It comes from within, we have tremendous leadership on the defensive side,” Simmons said. “From the defensive line, to the linebackers, to the secondary. We are all grabbing each other and keeping us together.”
Cameron Dantzler, a sophomore cornerback from Hammond, Louisiana, said the defense had confidence against LSU, which is why they played so well.
“Coming into the game, we came in with confidence,” Dantzler said. “We knew it was going to be a defensive game, so we came in showing we are one of the best defenses in the country.”
Dantzler had a big interception in the end zone to deny LSU a scoring chance, and he said he was so excited in the moment he tried returning the interception out of the end zone. He was tackled at the 1-yard line.
“I felt like I could have had a pick six right there,” Dantzler said. “It was back at home, so it was a very exciting moment for me. I just played for the fade (route).”
For Dantzler, the trip home gave him the opportunity to play in the stadium he dreamed of as a kid in front of his friends and family.
“It was a great atmosphere, my dream school was always LSU,” Dantzler said. “But things happen, and it is a blessing to play in this stadium in front of my family and friends.”
While it may not have been a happy homecoming for Dantzler, he was adamant the defense played strong for the offense as the game wore on.
“We just tried to do our jobs, get to the ball, and give us as many opportunity as we could to put points on the board,” Dantzler said. “They (the offense) was like, ‘Let’s go, give us more chances!’ And that is what we did.”
One of the reasons the defense was successful was because they limited the rushing attack of LSU to just 110 yards on the ground. Erroll Thompson, a sophomore linebacker from Florence, Alabama, said defensive coordinator Bob Shoop put together a great game plan.
“Coach Shoop had a great game plan coming into the ball game,” Thompson said. “The whole d-line played a huge role in that as well. Most of the stuff they did, coach Shoop was dead on with it during the week.”
Thompson said he felt like the linebackers played an important part of the game, as he said it was the their best game. He also said the team is going back to work this week, and his confidence has grown with each game.
“We are sticking together,” Thompson said. “We got a lot of work to do, and I feel like I’m more confident with each and every game.”
As MSU fans and players look to put the game in the past, Thompson said he is looking ahead to next week’s game against Texas A&M.
“That was probably my best game last year, that was probably one of the most fun games,” Thompson said. “It was a pretty big game, we won, and we got to win this one next week. It is a big one.”
MSU will depend on each other in the game against the Aggies. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. in Starkville.
