CLEMSON, S.C. — LSU’s offensive struggles in 2024 could be boiled down to one thing: the lack of a running game.
LSU’s inability to consistently churn out yards on the ground put fifth-year senior quarterback Garrett Nussmeier and the offense in trouble on numerous occasions throughout last season. As promising as Nussmeier’s first season as a starter was, there were too many occasions where his team needed him to be Superman.
“I think we all knew what we needed to be better at from last year, and that was a running game that allowed Garrett the opportunity to be a complete player,” LSU coach Brian Kelly said. “We couldn’t just be a one-trick pony and throw the ball over the yard.”
But, on Saturday night at Memorial Stadium against No. 4 Clemson in the season opener, LSU didn’t need Nussmeier to be superhuman to upset the reigning ACC champions 17-10 on the road. This time around, LSU had a running game.
Not including lost sack yardage, LSU had 120 rushing yards. Sophomore running back Caden Durham led the way with 74 yards on the ground on 17 attempts, while senior wide receiver Zavion Thomas chipped in with three carries for 26 yards. Even Nussmeier had himself a 10-yard run.
“When you played really good teams, you have to shorten the game in some instances,” Kelly said. “And I thought tactically, we did a great job. (Offensive coordinator Joe Sloan) did a great job calling plays, sticking with runs, creative runs, different runs.”
Between Durham’s shiftiness and Thomas’ speed, LSU has the athletes to turn open space into yards. It was still LSU’s offensive line that needed to create that space in the first place.
“We controlled the second half with our offensive line,” Kelly said. “And that’s a reworked offensive line.”
To label LSU’s offensive line as “reworked” may be an understatement. LSU had five new starters on the line, electing not to start returning starter and redshirt sophomore DJ Chester at left guard.
Kelly and offensive line coach Brad Davis turned to redshirt sophomore Paul Mubenga instead of Chester. They also gave redshirt freshman Coen Echols snaps at left guard. Chester only entered the game at left tackle, replacing redshirt sophomore Tyree Adams for a few snaps as he tended to a left leg injury.
Even with all of those new pieces and rotations, LSU’s line was able to move Clemson off the ball and provide room for Durham and others to operate.Â
“I thought they did an unbelievable job,” Nussmeier said. “What a crazy way, a crazy environment for a first start for some of those guys. And those guys are young and having their first opportunity in this kind of environment, I’m so proud of them.”
LSU’s ability to control the line of scrimmage allowed the offense to control the clock. The offense, despite squandering opportunities to score more points, held the ball for 20:33 in the second half. That helped LSU’s defense limit Clemson to just 9:27 of possession time during that same span of time.
“We’ve been working on that since January,” Adams said in regards to the running game. “And we know physicality is key. Physicality is everything. So once we really started pounding the ball… I like to say, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. So we just kept going, kept going, kept going, and we eventually broke them.”
An efficient rushing attack led to a more efficient attack overall. Besides winning the time of possession battle, LSU also earned 12 more first downs than Clemson (25-13), gained nearly 100 more yards and averaged more than a half a yard more per play.
There’s no question that LSU’s defense shone the brightest on Saturday. Holding a top-5 team on the road to 10 points and under 275 yards is an achievement that LSU fans couldn’t have dreamt of heading into the night.
But it would have been a much tougher feat to accomplish if it weren’t for LSU’s rushing attack, which allowed the offense to eat up the clock and keep the defense well-rested throughout the night.
“The real difference here offensively,” Kelly said, “was the ability to carve out a running game against a really good defense.”
