Petre Thomas-Imagn Images
By Hunt Palmer
Some problems are game problems. Some problems are program problems.
LSU’s inept running game is the latter.
Once again, LSU’s ground game no showed on Saturday night in Oxford. What didn’t cost the Tigers at Clemson or against Florida bit Brian Kelly’s team at Ole Miss.
Against the worst statistical rushing defense in the Southeastern Conference, LSU mustered 57 yards on 22 carries. Twenty-six of those yards came in the fourth quarter as Ole Miss nursed a two-score lead and had eyes on the clock.
That would be jarring if it hadn’t been going on for the better part of three seasons.
Jayden Daniels threw camouflage over it in 2023. After 18 games P.J. (Post-Jayden), it’s out in the open under a spotlight.
Don’t believe me about 2023?
LSU running backs gained 54 yards on 12 carries in the Orlando loss to Florida State. At Alabama two months later, it was 43 yards on 13 carries. In the season finale against Texas A&M, an LSU win, Tiger backs ran 15 times for 36 yards. LSU finished eleventh in the country in rushing, but that was Mr. Heisman playing David Copperfield with the illusion of success.
Last season only eight teams in America ran the ball less often than LSU. Only Mississippi State, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Vanderbilt ran it for fewer yards per carry among SEC teams. That quartet finished a combined 4-26 in SEC play.
Not the company to keep.
Saturday night LSU handed the ball to Ju’Juan Johnson once in the first half. He lost a yard. LSU handed the ball to Kaleb Jackson once in the first half. It was on third and 20 against a prevent defense. LSU did not hand the ball to Harlem Berry in the first half.
That’s two carries for your tailbacks in a half of football. Barry Sanders wouldn’t be very productive with that workload.
Whether it’s lack of confidence, deliberate gameplanning or flow of the game, there simply aren’t enough running calls.
This program is healthy enough to win huge games like Ole Miss last year, South Carolina last year, Clemson this year. The defense is deep, dynamic and, at times, dominant. The skill players on the offense are proven high-level producers.
The virus eating the program alive is the running game, and it transcends this roster.
Last season’s offensive line and backs couldn’t sustain ground success. In the first half of Saturday’s game, every single offensive lineman from that group was gone, and Caden Durham and Josh Williams were missing. So was Mason Taylor.
New cast. Same show.
That’s a problem within the program that simply must be rectified. It starts with commitment. It continues with development. Both are significant problems.
During the open date, some frank conversations must be had on Skip Bertman Drive. There is plenty of season left and plenty of good in the program and on the roster.
LSU is going to be a bear to beat in Tiger Stadium with that defense. Everyone on the schedule has warts, too. LSU’s is significant. The quarterback needs to play much better, and he might need to get healthier. He’s a proven commodity that figures to produce far more than he has to this point.
The program made a significant commitment to this roster, and next year’s group will feature a ton of turnover and a brutal schedule.
This is the team that everyone has pegged to make a playoff push. That’s been explicitly stated. After Saturday’s loss, that’s now more of an uphill battle. But six SEC games remain.
Nowhere to run.
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