The numbers weren’t there yet, but Carl Lawson’s impact on the opposing offense was always readily apparent. Well, on Saturday against LSU, the box score started filling up.
Lawson registered four tackles — two for loss — three quarterback hurries and a pair of sacks against the other Tigers, anchoring a deep defensive line that kept LSU quarterback Danny Etling flustered and running back Leonard Fournette bottled up.
His second sack, which came with 24 seconds left in the game and Auburn clutching an 18-13 lead, forced LSU to burn their final timeout and it led Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele to call it one of the two plays of the game.
Seeing Lawson be rewarded with quantifiable stats, which are good to have but aren’t always indicative of a player’s impact, was enjoyable for his teammates and coaches to see.
“Carl is a very high-energy, high-octane guy,” said safety Nick Ruffin. “He’s a vocal leader on this defense, so for him to step up in a major, major way for us was, I guess clutch is the best way to describe it. He’s that kind of guy that if they throw the ball 20 times, he wants 20 sacks. So to see him get after the quarterback really all night, it was huge for us as a secondary. It helped us shut them down.”
Along with Lawson, the rest of the defensive line swarmed LSU’s front five all night. And although they all didn’t get the stats like he did, it was clear their presence mattered.
“The defensive line — 1, 3, 95 and 55 — really, really, played a very, very solid, good football game,” said defensive coordinator Kevin Steele. “They affected the line of scrimmage on most every snap. Most every snap. That was a good core group in there.
The unit was credited with 11 “quarterback affects” — four sacks and seven hurries — out of LSU’s 31 pass plays, efficient by Steele’s standards.
Lawson led the charge for a dominant performance, but he didn’t do quite enough to please his harshest critic — himself.
“We’ve still got a lot of things we need to clean up, especially myself,” Lawson said after the game. “I had a long run. That was my fault. I’ve got to step it up and be more physical in the run game. So, as a team, we still have a lot things to improve on.”
He wasn’t quite happy enough with how they played, but Lawson was able to step back and savor the moment after helping his team snap a six-game home losing streak to SEC teams.
“You know, Auburn is such a special place, and coming from me having injuries and last season, just to get a win for these fans, to get a win at home,” Lawson said. “It’s a great feeling. A beautiful moment.”
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