Why LSU football's cornerbacks room is on red alert entering off week, Alabama showdown

BATON ROUGE – LSU football has a problem.

It has nothing to do with the Tigers' dominant 62-0 win over Army on Saturday. And it has nothing to do with LSU's offense, which generated over 500 yards of offense for the seventh straight week against the Black Knights (2-5).

Instead, it has everything to do with LSU's cornerbacks room.

The Tigers (6-2) potentially lost another cornerback this week. Starter Zy Alexander suffered a left leg injury after intercepting a Hail Mary on the final play of the first half and did not return to the game, as freshman Jeremiah Hughest started in his place.

"(He has) a lower body injury that will get evaluated here over the next 24-to-48 hours," coach Brian Kelly said after the game.

Alexander's injury comes after No. 19 LSU was already without a slew of cornerbacks heading into Saturday's game.

Texas A&M transfer Denver Harris and Syracuse transfer Duce Chestnut were listed as inactive. Freshman Ashton Stamps is dealing with an injury and Ohio State transfer JK Johnson has been out with a left leg fracture since opening few weeks of preseason practices.

Add in Alexander's absence and LSU was down to junior Sage Ryan (a safety who was moved to cornerback), sophomore Laterrance Welch, freshman Javien Toviano (who has moslty worked at nickelback) and Hughes at cornerback.

"(Alexander's) very important. But once one guy goes down, (the) next man steps up," safety Andre' Sam said.

Among the four healthy corners, Welch and Ryan are the only ones who have played meaningful snaps for the Tigers this season. Welch struggled in his 46 snaps (according to Pro Football Focus) against Ole Miss in Week 5 and Ryan has been solid starting opposite of Alexander in recent weeks.

Kelly was also pleased with what he saw from Hughes and Toviano during the second half against Army on Saturday, noting that Hughes played with "good eyes" and did well defending a double move against him.

But, again, both young corners are untested.

"Those are the guys we've got," Kelly said. "We were down to playing two corners that are true freshmen."

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LSU is off this upcoming weekend. That should help the Tigers as they try to get their injured and inactive cornerbacks back in the fold. For example, Kelly is hopeful Stamps will be healthy enough to be able to practice with the team during the off week.

"Not everybody is playing at 100%," Maason Smith said. "I feel like everybody's got some type of nick or some type of knack that we all could get fixed up (this week)."

But the biggest game of LSU's season comes after the break, as the Tigers travel to Tuscaloosa to face No. 8 Alabama, a game that could determine the SEC West champion.

LSU's struggles in the secondary have already been well documented this season. Even fully healthy, the back end of the Tigers' defense would have been a prominent concern against the Crimson Tide.

But after Alexander's injury and with four cornerbacks already unavailable, LSU's cornerbacks room has suddenly become more than just a problem.

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Koki Riley covers LSU sports for The Daily Advertiser. Email him at kriley@theadvertiser.com and follow him on Twitter at @KokiRiley

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU football: Cornerbacks room is thinning before Alabama game