LSU Football Defensive Starter Ruled Out for Top-20 Matchup Against Vanderbilt

LSU linebacker Whit Weeks has officially been ruled out for Saturday's Week 8 matchup against the Vanderbilt Commodores.

Weeks, the Bayou Bengals' starting linebacker, will be sidelined after suffering a bone bruise in his ankle in the leg he underwent a procedure on during the offseason.

Along with Weeks, LSU defensive lineman Bernard Gooden is out for Saturday with the Tigers' starting defensive tackle dealing with a bone bruise in his collarbone.

“He has a bruised collar bone," Kelly said on Monday. "He’s very sore right now, but no break, so this is a short time thing and something where he’ll have to manage the pain throughout the week.”

It's a significant development for the LSU Tigers with the program now down a pair of starting defensive weapons heading into the Week 8 matchup against Vanderbilt.

LSU Tigers Football: Whit Weeks. — Courtesy of LSU Tigers Football.

For LSU head coach Brian Kelly, it's about the Tigers pressuring Diego Pavia and keeping the Commodores' signal-caller in check this weekend in Tennessee.

"One of the things we've done really well is put pressure on the quarterback but I'll be honest with you, it's going to be our ability to control first and second down or third down becomes quick down and you're not getting home. The ball's coming out so fast you can't get there," Kelly said.

"You've gotta get into predictable third down situations and that then lends itself to us having more success. The real challenge is first down and second down and making sure when they get to third down, it's more than third-and-short."

But it's set to become even more of a challenge without Weeks and Gooden on Saturday at FirstBank Stadium.

#LSU’s Harold Perkins takes the field in Nashville with all eyes on No. 7.

Perkins and Co. will look to make up for Whit Weeks’ absence after being ruled out on Saturday.

Tigers looking to go 1-0 again this week with a matchup vs. No. 17 Vanderbilt.

Top-20 showdown soon… pic.twitter.com/O6UVLbTci3
— Zack Nagy (@znagy20) October 18, 2025

With Weeks out, the expectation is that sophomore linebacker Davhon Keys will take a bulk of the snaps for the second-level of defense.

At defensive tackle, expect both Ahmad Breaux and Walter Mathis to up their workload against the Commodores with Gooden sidelined.

LSU and Vanderbilt will kickoff at 11:07 a.m. CT at FirstBank Stadium with all eyes set to be on the Top-20 matchup.

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