[Tuck4Bama]

BATON ROUGE -- The LSU football schedule says homecoming is Nov. 10 against Louisiana Tech, but Tigers defensive end Kirston Pittman already had his.

Pittman, a 6-foot-4, 252-pound senior from Garyville, made his first appearance in front of a Tiger Stadium crowd in nearly three years, and the emotions of the night nearly overcame him.

Robbed of the past two seasons by injuries, Pittman settled down to give the record crowd of 92,739 and himself something to remember. He led No. 2-ranked LSU with eight tackles and had a quarterback pressure to highlight a strong defensive performance in a 48-7 victory against then No. 9-ranked Virginia Tech on Saturday night.


He was selected team defensive MVP for the game and the SEC's Defensive Lineman of the Week.

"I'm truly blessed," Pittman said. "It was a great game and great atmosphere. It was great to be home again. Mr. (trainer) Jack Marucci had to tell me to calm down before the game. I was a little overexcited. It was really emotional deep down inside."

Possibly outside of fifth-year senior quarterback Matt Flynn, who had to wait four years to get a chance to start, no player had more teammates rooting for him than Pittman. As a freshman, he was a valuable third-down rusher who made an impact in key games with 17 hurries and two sacks.

He received honorable mention for the Freshman All-America team.

Pittman played 12 games as a sophomore, with one start, and he had three sacks, but was nagged all season by pain in his left ankle. X-rays and MRI exams were inconclusive. Exploratory surgery in the offseason revealed a cyst, which had to be carved out of a bone in his foot.

LONG WAIT TO RUSH- NOLA.com