By RYNE BERTHELOT, Journal Sports
BATON ROUGE — Just three weeks removed from earning LSU’s coveted No. 18 jersey, BJ Ojulari filled in another title on his already-illustrious resume: team captain.
The junior edge rusher was joined by defensive batterymates Ali Gaye and Mike Jones, Jr., Tuesday evening, as the trio were ushered in front of the media as the newly-appointed team captains for the Tigers.
“It’s a great honor,” Ojulari said. “Sometimes I’m just at a loss for words, to see how the whole facility and the coaching staff and my teammates see me as that leader, as No. 18. For me, I just have to uphold that honor and represent and be the face of the team.”
Fresh off of a season where he tallied 55 total tackles and seven sacks, Ojulari figures to be a mainstay on a defense that could see as many as 18-to-22 players rotating in and out against Florida State, by his own account. That, of course, depends on the packages put together by defensive coordinator Matt House, who came over from the Kansas City Chiefs after Brian Kelly was hired on. House brings a bit of diversity to his playcalling, something that Ojulari picked up on during camp.
“He does a lot of things I like, especially for my role as an edge guy,” Ojulari said. “I can’t give away too much, but I like his energy and the scheme, and the amount of calls that we have. We’ll be able to switch things up and get different looks.”
With all three of the team’s captains coming from the defensive front seven, there’s no lack of chemistry among a defense that will be relied on heavily for stability in the early throes of Kelly’s LSU career.
That’s not necessarily news for Gaye, though.
“We know what we’ve got,” Gaye said. “We know who we are and we trust that. We trust (defensive line) coach (Jamar) Cain, and everything that he’s teaching us and he’s demanding of us. So the morale on the D-line is good. We know ourselves and we know what we can do on the field. We trust in ourselves and we trust in each other, and that’s what you want out of a team.”
Gaye enters his third season with LSU after transferring from Garden City (Kansas) Community College. The redshirt senior earned second team All-SEC honors in 2020 before missing most of the 2021 campaign after exiting the Kentucky game in Week 4. Kelly told reporters on Monday that Gaye had successfully stayed healthy for the first time through preseason camp at LSU, a recurring theme attributed to the comprehensive conditioning Kelly put his squad through during the offseason.
“He’s not lying,” Gaye said of his coach’s comments. “Our nutritionist, our strength coach, training staff, everything that they’re giving us, (helps) … at the end of the day, I know the last two years haven’t been successful for me camp-wise, because my body was just so beat up and everything. Being around this staff, and being around (Assistant AD of Sports Nutrition) Dr. (Matt) Frakes nutrition-wise, it’s helped me a lot. I’m eating better, eating cleaner and being more aware of what’s going into my body.”
Now, to be aware of the Seminoles.
Fresh off a 47-7 win over Duquesne, Florida State ran for 406 yards and six touchdowns. Gaudy numbers, for sure.
Rest assured, the Tigers’ defense has been watching.
“They have two or three very strong backs,” Ojulari said. “Their quarterback is very elusive, he’s what keeps their offense going. The offensive linemen are pretty good blockers at the point of attack. At the same time, we’re LSU. We respect our opponent, and Coach House has a great game plan to stop the run. When we stop the run, our front’s going to get going on the pass. It’s going to be interesting to see the way we dominate the line of scrimmage and stop the run.”
Contact Ryne at rgberthelot@gmail.com
Photo courtesy LSU Athletics