Note: The following appears in the LSU football gameday program.
The term “hidden yardage” in football often refers to the small, overlooked details like penalties, clock management errors or mental mistakes that quietly decide games. While touchdowns, deep passes and explosive tackles dominate highlight reels, unremarkable moments like blocked kicks or holding calls often determine the difference between a roaring crowd and eerily pained silence.
Similarly, “hidden yardage” in daily life, like small choices, justifications or commitments, can be the difference between success and mediocrity. For Tiger defensive tackle Peter Woods, mastering these mighty monotonies have been the focus of his training this offseason.
After the Tigers played their final game in the College Football Playoff last December, Woods adopted this adage to symbolize the “little things” he wanted to perfect ahead of his junior season. Unlike the caused fumbles or sacks Woods notched in his first two seasons wearing orange and purple, the veteran’s commitment to small habits may never make a headline or viral social media post. Still, he believes that excelling in everyday tasks and mastering the monotonous is the foundation for greatness.
“You always want to find something that can set you apart, something that’s going to give you an edge or competitive advantage,” said #11. “If you’re doing everything that everybody’s doing, you’re going to be the same person that everybody is. We call it ‘hidden yardage,’ the little things that you can do that don’t look big, but will get you yards.”
In his sophomore season, a leg injury sidelined the Alabaster, Ala. native for three games in September, and a head injury cost him time again two months later. For the first time in his decade-long football career, Woods’ ability to help his team was ripped from his control as he was forced to watch four games from the action’s periphery.
Though he recovered to finish the season with 32 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, three sacks and a caused fumble, Woods believes his conditioning after the injuries held him back from peak performance.
“Everybody likes to say I had a good season or even a great season, but if I’d been in better shape, being a self-critic, I would have met all my goals.”
After the end of the season, Head Coach Dabo Swinney approached Woods with a charge to increase the number of high-level snaps he could play in each game, which would require…