LSU had a thousand-yard rusher at quarterback last year with Jayden Daniels leading the charge. But with Garrett Nussmeier taking over, they changed their running game approach against USC.
The results? Not great.
LSU finished with -0.22 EPA per rush, which puts them in the 15th percentile. They only had one big play on the ground from an EPA perspective.
That’s a big difference from 2023, when they had 29 runs of 20+ yards.
But it wasn’t just the lack of big plays that stood out on Sunday night. LSU wasn’t efficient, either. They only converted 27% of their runs, which is way below their expectations.
Only 38% of their runs got four yards or more, 10 points below USC’s mark of 48%. Their two starting backs, Josh Williams and Kaleb Jackson, both averaged under four yards per play.
No matter how you look at it, LSU struggled to run the ball. Coach Brian Kelly was asked about it after the game and said they have bigger issues.
“We could sit here and look at a million things, but we had over 400 yards of total offense,” Kelly said. “We just couldn’t score when we needed to. It’s about being a better offense in the red zone, not just about running the ball.”
Kelly said they ran the ball to set up everything else they needed to do.
“Do I want to run better? Absolutely. Our execution needs to get better. But I think we ran well enough to win this game,” Kelly said.
Kelly has a point, but LSU could’ve improved their chances of scoring with a better running game.
On the opening drive, they ran the ball on first and goal and lost a yard. The next drive, they were forced to punt after a series of stuffed runs.
On the final drive, when they needed a touchdown to take the lead, they ran three times for an average of 1.6 yards. They had to settle for a field goal. LSU’s schedule gets easier for a bit, but they need to figure out their running game before SEC play starts.
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