LSU running game finding rhythm as A&M approaches

By Hunt Palmer

Six years generally don’t separate college roommates.

In the case of LSU sixth year senior Josh Williams and true freshman Caden Durham, that’s actually the case.

Age isn’t all that separates the two.

Williams once walked on at LSU. Durham was a heralded recruit.

Williams was on the roster for the 2019 national championship. Durham hadn’t yet taken a high school snap.

Williams experienced the COVID-19 pandemic, a coaching change at LSU, a chance to become the starter. Durham hasn’t taken a final exam yet.

Williams now wears No. 18 and spends much of his time with Durham who has emerged as LSU’s featured tailback.

“Caden is like my little brother, honestly,” Williams said. “He sits right next to me. He rooms with me on the away games and home games. I spend a lot of time with him. He’s a jokester, always trying to touch on me, hang out with me…Just a little bit younger, a little bit more fun, a little bit more talkative in a joking way. But he’s a joy to be around.”

Durham ripped through the South Carolina defense in Week 3 to the tune of 98 yards and a pair of scores to kick-start an LSU running game that struggled to get going early in the season.

The freshman’s speed and low center of gravity have helped LSU find some offensive balance.

On LSU’s first two offensive snaps against South Alabama, Durham bolted 71 yards on a touchdown catch and 86 yards on an explosive run. The former Texas high school track standout is a big play waiting to happen according to his new mentor. But that’s not all.

“Versatility,” Williams said of Durham’s best attribute. “He’s able to run between the tackles, outside zone, bust a long one, catch the ball out of the backfield. So, he brings a lot of things that the defense can’t really differentiate what we’re trying to do when he’s in the game.”

What Durham has brought is consistency.

In the season opener against USC, the freshman didn’t get a touch. The LSU running game sputtered. In Week 2 versus Nicholls, he got five carries but didn’t find any room.

Since then, he’s topped 98 yards three times in five games with a toe injury hampering his effort against Ole Miss. When feeling good, Durham has produced. When Durham has produced, the Tiger offense has become far more versatile.

Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier and the LSU passing game have shouldered much of the weight of production through half the season. LSU leads the conference in passing attempts by 26 over second place Georgia. Unsurprisingly, the Tiger offense ranks dead last in the league in rushing attempts.

Through six games, Nussmeier averaged 331 yards through the air. Saturday night at Arkansas, the Tiger signal caller only threw for 233 yards, nearly 100 shy of that mark, but LSU’s offense scored on seven of eight consequential (not end of half) drives.

LSU ran the ball 37 times to 35 passes.

“I think it was awesome,” Nussmeier said. “I think people saw what we’re capable of in the run game. People saw how we were able to handle things in the RPO world and attack defenses whenever we see it. As a quarterback, when the run game is going so well, you just gotta do your job and manage the game, taking things when you’re supposed to.”

Durham, nursing those dislocated toes from the South Alabama game, handled 21 of the 31 designed runs and amassed 101 yards and three scores. In two SEC road wins, the freshman has 199 yards and four rushing touchdowns.

“He’s obviously very, very special,” Nussmeier said. “He’s like lightning in a bottle. He gets a small crease; he can take it. He can go. What’s so special about Caden also is his ability to make somebody miss. A lot of his big runs, there’s a guy one-on-one with him. He makes him miss.”

Durham has made a habit of shedding tacklers. He broke seven Gamecock tackles for 50 yards in Columbia. At Arkansas, he broke five more but for 79 yards.

That elusiveness has made Durham the focal point of the running game, but it’s not something LSU plans to rely solely on. Every piece of the machine must function for the Tigers to sustain success on the ground.

“I felt like what was better was the cohesiveness of the tight ends, the wide receivers, the quarterback getting us into the right plays, backs seeing it better,” said LSU Head Coach Brian Kelly. “There was a cohesiveness. We were disconnected at one of those junctures at one time or another when we were struggling running the football. It wasn’t just the five guys up front. It was something else that was going on.

“Maybe it was an offensive lineman one time. Then maybe the next we didn’t push crack with a receiver or we didn’t get an up cut with an outside zone play, or the tight end boxed off the end instead of stretching him. We got the connection of all those guys in unison because we’ve been spending so much more time on it.”

LSU now finds itself in a matchup of the lone unbeatens in Southeastern Conference play. Every goal the Tigers set out to achieve in 2024 is still alive, and a win Saturday night at Texas A&M draws them all closer.

“It’s beginning to pay off,” Kelly said. “We need that running game for us to have the balance we need to have on offense.”