Adams: Gorilla limped out of Jungle for title bout

NEW ORLEANS — LSU linebacker Ali Highsmith doesn’t pretend to know much about Big Ten football. He doesn’t have time for it.

Don’t blame him. Blame the competition.

“The SEC gets all my focus,” he said.

So he rarely looks beyond the conference boundaries in the fall. He doesn’t read about college football in general and doesn’t watch ESPN.

He’s too consumed with what it takes to win the SEC, which LSU did a month ago in Atlanta.

“Our nickname for the SEC is ‘The Jungle,’ ” Highsmith said Friday during an interview session, advancing Monday night’s national championship game between LSU and Big Ten champion Ohio State.

“To get out of The Jungle, you’ve got to be a gorilla.”

This gorilla limped out.

LSU beat Tennessee in the SEC championship game without its starting quarterback, Matt Flynn, and had to play the second half without All-American defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey.

Dorsey, who suffered knee and lower-back injuries during the course of the season, heads up any list of LSU’s walking wounded. But most of the nation’s third-ranked defense was nicked, strained and bruised by the end of its 13th game.

That’s why the month off between the SEC and national championship games has been so crucial for LSU.

And that’s why its defensive game plan for the Buckeyes should be as simple as two words: “Be healthy.”

That’s been a familiar scenario under third-year LSU defensive coordinator Bo Pelini, who will begin his head-coaching career at Nebraska after the national championship game.

Pelini, who coached nine years in the NFL, isn’t particularly generous with playing time for backups. And his starters pride themselves in staying on the field.

“We condition ourselves for it,” Highsmith said.

Dorsey is a limping example of that.

In the second half of the season, you often wondered if he were physically capable of getting in his stance, much less shedding a blocker on the way to a ball carrier. If he could stand, he seemingly could play.

Dorsey insists he’s in better shape than at anytime since preseason. Or, as he put it Thursday, “I’m ready to roll.”

His injuries were the most serious to the defense. Other key members of the SEC’s best defense also struggled to cross the regular-season finish line.

All-American strong safety Craig Steltz played most of the season with a toe injury. End Tyson Jackson played the last few games with a bad back. Linebacker Darry Beckwith had multiple injuries.

No one goes through the SEC pain-free. But since LSU entrusts less playing time to backups, its front-line defenders probably suffer above-average wear and tear.

Conversely, they also might benefit more than any other defense from a month between games. You could say the same for the offense, based on LSU’s bowl record under coach Les Miles.

The Tigers ended the 2005 season with a 40-3 rout of Miami in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. They capped the 2006 season by drubbing Notre Dame 41-14.

“The rest before the bowl has a lot to do with that,” Highsmith said. “You get a little bit faster. You have time to nourish your wounds.”

Highsmith also has had time to complete a cram course in Big Ten football, or at least the Ohio State offense.

“They’re a pro-style, smash-mouth offense,” he said.

But after a month’s layoff from The Jungle, LSU’s defense should be healthy enough to smash back.

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knews.com.