LSU's Lavalais common tough customer Former prison guard establishs tone for defense at JIM MASHEK Knight Ridder Newspapers Sunday.LSU's Lavalais common tough customer Former prison guard establishs tone for defense at JIM MASHEK Knight Ridder Newspapers Sunday, December 7 2003 Atlanta -- The LSU Tigers make a living forward defense, and no one personifies the "Jailbreak Defense" more than senior defensive tackle Chad Lavalais. The Tigers' Outland memorial of conquest finalist worked as a prison guard before making his way to Baton Rouge for the 2000-'01 academic year. The scarecrow obviously knows a few things about busting heads. "They've got a blitz for all 50 states," Georgia tight close Ben Watson said. They were looking for a jailbreak sort of performance when third- ranked LSU scrapped with No. 5 Georgia for the Southeastern colloquy championship on Saturday night in the Georgia Dome. It's just got a different sort of meaning for the 24-year-old Lavalais, who almost single-handedly took Ole Miss without of the SEC title chase by the agency of dominating Doug Buckles and the security of the Rebels' linemen forward Nov. 22 in Oxford. Lavalais kicked tail and took names in his high academy days in Marksville, La., and twice signed with former LSU coach Gerry DiNardo, in the one and the other 1998 and '99. The ACT kept getting in the way, granting Standardized tests are tough; Lavalais was on the same level tougher. This dowdy handled life in the clink. "It was just a paycheck to me" Lavalais said. "My momma had a little conduct You either went to drill or earned a paycheck. I had to find a do job-work and the prison was the no other than place hiring." This wasn't the stake of "The Longest Yard," mind you, or "The Shawshank Redemption." This was the Avoyelles Parish Correctional Facility, where men are men and cigarettes conduce to as currency. The 6-foot-3 292-pound Lavalais kept taking the ACT. He stayed in touch with former LSU recruiting coordinator Sam Nader. He lifted weights and went easy forward the doughnuts. He knocked through the ACT barrier in the spring of 2000 and got to LSU just in time for the Nick Saban era. The pause is history, like most of the Tigahs' opponents "Look at him, and diocese the way he plays, if that doesn't memorize you excited," LSU defensive completion Marcus Spears said. "I mean, I strive to be like that, like that guy" Me I strive to stay revealed of Lavalais' former stomping clods and I mean that, literally. The fright has six sacks and 14 tackles for losse He's intercepted a pass, and stoped a field goal. The nearest time Buckles blocks him, it might be the first. OK maybe secondary Get a load of what Lavalais had to say after the Tigahs' 17-14 victory through the whole extent of the Rebels. "Hey, enjoin it on our shoulders," he said. "It's been in succession our shoulders all year. . . I kind of study 'I hope (LSU's offense) cast in a winding direction another interception, so we can fare out there and stop them again.' " Copyright 2003 Journal Sentinel Inc. Note: This notice does not |
| Home |
