BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -Only three games into his final season at LSU, defensive tackle Drake Nevis needs only one more sack to set a personal single-season high.
He also snagged his first career interception last weekend.
His offseason decision to cut back on cookies is hardly the main reason for his surging success, although to Nevis it symbolizes his dedication to making sure he ended his college career without any regrets.
“I had to drop a couple of pounds for my endurance and those cookies were one thing I had to take out of my diet,” Nevis said, grinning as he spoke in a warm, relaxed tone that belied what a menace he can be to opposing quarterbacks. “That was very difficult to do. But I had a goal, so I had to stick with it.”
The cookie conversation first came up while Nevis discussed his interception on Saturday night during No. 15 LSU’s 29-7 victory over Mississippi State. Nevis had broken into the backfield and was charging toward quarterback Tyler Russell when blitzing defensive back Tyrann Mathieu got there first, blasting into Russell as he began to throw.
The ball popped straight up, floating in front to Nevis, who said his eyes lit up like he was about to eat “a big chocolate chip cookie.”
Nevis snagged the ball with one hand on the Bulldogs’ 31 and had an open path to the end zone for what would have been his first career touchdown. Instead, he tripped over a teammate and fell at the 28.
“He made one of the most unusual plays,” LSU head coach Les Miles said this week, a look of amusement in his eyes. “What he did prior to the interception was more athletic. I think what he did with the ball was – he caught a chocolate chip cookie.”
The 6-foot-2, 285-pound Nevis has gotten plenty of good-natured ribbing about the play from teammates as well.
“They asked me if I ever played receiver,” Nevis said.
Nevis even made a joke at his own expense, suggesting that his failure to take the interception back for a score means “I need to go meet up with the running back coaches and do some high-knee drills so I can be more athletic.”
Large as Nevis may be, no one seriously questions his athleticism, while his work ethic and commitment have drawn rave reviews.
“He’s always played with a great motor. He realizes that this is the back end of a very good career, and he wants to make every game count,” Miles said. “It’s a great lesson to a coach when you watch a young man who takes it sincerely and works hard on a daily basis to improve. … To me, his approach is what is making him a better player, and (taking advantage of) the opportunity to improve and learn. He does it every day at practice.”
Nevis, who grew up in the New Orleans suburb of Marrero, never started before this season, but became a top reserve as a junior in 2009, when he led the team with 11 tackles for losses and ranked second on the team with four sacks.
Nevis already has 3 1/2 sacks this season.
“He’s more physical than last year and he’s determined to get to the ball,” LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne said. “I haven’t seen anyone do it better than him. It seems like he knows all the moves on the defensive line to beat his blocker. He doesn’t shortchange in practice. Every play he’s going hard.”
Nevis said his formula for constant improvement was a combination of hard work, discipline and constantly refining the techniques his coaches teach.
Nevis talks of focusing the force of his initial surge at “half a lineman,” as opposed to hitting a blocker head-on.
“A bull-rush will not get you a sack,” Nevis said. “That’s like running into a brick wall because a lot of linemen in the Southeastern Conference, and in college football, are big, strong and athletic.”
The Tigers may need Nevis at his best on Saturday night, when LSU (3-0) hosts No. 22 West Virginia (3-0) and running back Noel Devine, who is averaging 118 yards rushing.
Although they’ve never met, Nevis said he’s been following Devine since the two were in the same recruiting class coming out of high school. Nevis said he found himself mesmerized when he found Devine’s highlights on the Internet.
“I couldn’t stop watching him because he was very fast and he’d score like every time he touched the ball,” Nevis recalled.
If Nevis has his way, nothing of that sort will happen this weekend.
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