During the third quarter of LSU’s 27-20 defeat against USC, the team’s offensive began to click. John Emery Jr., the running back, was in the centre of it all. Emery had runs of 39, 10, and 3 in a four-play sequence to get LSU into the red zone and set the stage for quarterback Garrett Nussmeier to toss for a 13-yard score to receiver Aaron Anderson. It was LSU’s most productive drive of the day, covering 78 yards in seven plays. Regretfully, that was Emery’s last game of the season. Just a year after he sustained the same injury to his other knee during practice, he tore his left ACL.
With just 10 carries for 61 yards, Emery led the Tigers in rushing. Josh Williams and Kaleb Jackson, two other running backs, managed just 47 yards overall on 14 carries, or 3.4 yards per carry. Now that Emery is out, LSU’s offence becomes much more intricate. Because quarterback Jayden Daniels is a dual threat, running back rushing has suffered over the last two seasons. Daniels amassed almost 1,100 yards of rushing in just the previous season, almost twice as much as the leading running back Logan Diggs, who subsequently went to Ole Miss.
Since 2021, LSU has not produced a running back with 1,000 yards. Since 2019’s national championship squad, they haven’t had a 1,000-yard running back who averages more than 5.0 yards per carry since Clyde Edwards-Helaire. Now that Emery is out, Nussmeier and rookie offensive coordinator Joe Sloan are under pressure.
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