Baton Rouge - When LSU takes the field on Saturday in Tiger Stadium, their defense will look a bit different. The Tigers have lost Jacobian Guillory and Harold Perkins Jr. for the rest of the season.

Brian Kelly and the staff have made adjustments to still have a successful performance. They've activated Xavier Atkins to take some snaps in three linebacker sets. Kelly is confident that the talent of that room will remain at a high level.

"The versatility that we have because of a guy like Whit doesn't hamstring us to the point where, okay, now we've got, you know, three plotting linebackers on the field. You know, we feel really comfortable that if we have to go to that type of configuration, we feel like we've got three guys that can can play and not be mismatched," Kelly said.

LSU's defense will have to face a South Alabama offense that has been firing on all cylinders lately. The Jaguars from Mobile have scored 135 points in their last two games, and they'll look to bring that pressure to Tiger Stadium. 

"I mean they have a good football team, and we're aware of that our players are. They've watched film. They've seen, you know, how exciting of an offense that they have. our team has a great deal of respect for South Alabama. So each and every week, it's been important for us to get off to a good start. You know, I thought we came up with a good first drive last week, and again, that will be a point of deficits as it is each and every week is to start fast," Kelly said.

LSU's secondary may have to play without cornerback Zy Alexander. He has been listed as questionable as he goes through concussion protocol.

Kick off between LSU and South Alabama is set for 6:45 p.m. Saturday night. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.