By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
BATON ROUGE – As No. 9 LSU deep dives this week into preparation for its Aug. 30 season opener at No. 4 Clemson, most of the Tigers’ starting jobs have been settled.
But after Monday’s preseason practice No. 16, following Saturday night’s closed scrimmage in Tiger Stadium, there has been shuffling on the offensive line.
While returning sophomore Tyree Adams and transfers Braelin Moore (Virginia Tech) and Josh Thompson (Big Ten’s Northwestern) are locked in as starters at left tackle, center and right guard, competition is ongoing at left guard and right tackle.
Sophomore Paul Mubenga was taking first-team snaps on Monday at left guard. Previous starter sophomore D.J. Chester was moved to the second team. Also, true freshman Carius Curne was starting at right tackle with former starter sophomore Weston Davis joining the second unit.
The Mubenga-Chester battle has been hot and heavy since the start of preseason camp. The sudden promotion of Curne, if only temporary, was a shocker because he’s had numerous illegal procedure penalties in scrimmage situations.
“He’s the strongest and fastest freshman I’ve ever seen,’ said Adams of the 6-5, 320-pound Curne. “He’s been great. His development is just going through the roof. The sky’s the limit for him. He can play all over the field.”
Moore (24 starts), Thompson (21) and Chester (13) have combined for 58 college starts. But none of LSU’s projected starting unit, whether Chester starts or not, has ever played in a game together.
In the next 12 days, the offensive line must discover chemistry and consistently communicate with each other, especially on blitzes. LSU starting quarterback Garrett Nussmeier has been under constant duress in 11-on-11 preseason scrimmage situations.
“Our defense throws a lot at us,” LSU offensive coordinator Joe Sloan said. “There’s a lot of different fronts and pressures. I like the collective growth of the offensive line, but we’re going to need every day to get fully prepared.”
If LSU wants to have a legitimate chance of being one of the 12 teams advancing to the College Football Playoff, it must rediscover a running attack that was AWOL a year ago.
It didn’t matter that four of last season’s Tigers’ starting offensive linemen were drafted by the NFL. LSU’s 2024 offensive front often failed at run blocking, as evidenced by the Tigers’ ranking 107th in rushing (116.4 yards per game) among the 133 FBS (Division 1-A) teams.
Nussmeier accounted for 72.2 percent (4,052 passing yards) of LSU’s offensive yardage (5,610) last season and 66 percent of the Tigers’ TDs (29 passing TDs of LSU’s team total of 44 TDs).
The three-game losing streak that resulted in the 6-1 Tigers plummeting from a playoff hopeful to a 6-4 also-ran is directly linked to LSU’s lack of a run game.
In consecutive losses to Texas A&M, Alabama and Florida, the Tigers averaged 85.3 rushing yards. Nussmeier, trying too hard to make plays, threw five interceptions, was sacked 10 times and pressured on 16 occasions.
“It’s critical to run the football in the SEC,” Sloan said. “We’re trying to establish that in different ways. We’ve looked at the scheme and personnel things.
“And in the off-season, Garrett attacked understanding his role in the run game. It’s not just checking (to a different play after reading the defense), but it’s knowing when to hand off, when to pull the ball (to run a QB keeper) and when to put the ball on the perimeter.”
There’s certainly talent in the four-man running back rotation.
Returning sophomore starter Caden Durham (753 rushing yards, 6 TDs, six starts as a freshman last season), five-star true freshman Harlem Berry (2,178 rushing yards, 41 TDs as a high school senior), junior Kaleb Jackson (315 yards, four TDs in his first two LSU seasons) and versatile former sophomore five-star recruit Ju’Juan Johnson form a formidable foursome.
“We have to be committed to those situations where everybody knows you’re going to run the ball and you still have to run the ball,” head coach Brian Kelly said. “That, to me, is the litmus test how good is your run game.
“They know you’re running it. Everybody knows you’re running and you’re still running it. We’re going into this season with the mindset of there’s going to be times you know we’re running the ball and we have to impose our will on you.”
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com