Tag: Josh Williams

Instant Analysis: Comeback leads LSU past Auburn in road SEC win

The Tigers overcame a 17-0 deficit to move to 2-0 in SEC play.

LSU got punched in the mouth yet again on Saturday night. The Tigers looked totally out of sorts to start the game, falling behind 17-0 early in a game that looked like it could get ugly.

But once again, this team responded. The defense tightened up, shutting out Auburn in the second half and scoring a touchdown on a fumble return. The offense — while far from perfect — did just enough to bring the team back as LSU earned a 21-17 win.

It was truly pretty remarkable considering how the game began, including [autotag]Sevyn Banks[/autotag]’ scary injury situation on the opening kickoff.. The Tigers gave up two touchdown passes from Robby Ashford early, and facing a three-score deficit, it looked like things could get out of hand.

That’s when the defense came up with a huge play. A strip-sack from [autotag]BJ Ojulari[/autotag] was recovered by [autotag]Jay Ward[/autotag], who returned it for a touchdown. That play flipped the momentum in the game significantly, and a touchdown run from [autotag]Jayden Daniels[/autotag] right before half cut the deficit to three.

It wasn’t Daniels’ best game. He finished just 8 of 20 passing for 80 yards, though he did add 59 on the ground plus the score. Once again, Daniels didn’t complete this game. He was looked shaken up after an awkward slide, and though he tried to stay in, he was ultimately pulled.

[autotag]Garrett Nussmeier[/autotag] entered, though he wasn’t very successful and completed just two of six passes for five yards. [autotag]John Emery Jr.[/autotag] was the team’s best offensive weapon, taking eight carries for 42 yards and a touchdown in addition to a 39-yard reception, though he did have a fumble that could have been costly at the end.

The ground game, in general, was strong. It totaled 185 yards, led by [autotag]Josh Williams[/autotag] with 68 on 17 carries. But it was LSU’s defense that truly saved the day in the second half.

It forced two interceptions, one on a trick play which was thrown by former LSU receiver [autotag]Koy Moore[/autotag] to true freshman [autotag]Harold Perkins Jr.[/autotag], and another from Ashford when the ball was ripped out of Moore’s hands by [autotag]Greg Brooks Jr.[/autotag]

It was overall the best passing day of Ashford’s career. He completed just 19 of 38 passes but totaled 337 yards and two passing touchdowns. Still, his two turnovers held the team back despite AU outgaining LSU 438-270.

It wasn’t the prettiest game, but LSU is now 2-0 and has won four-straight games as it prepares to welcome the top-10 Tennessee Volunteers to town next weekend.

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LSU running back John Emery Jr. suspended for two games, per report

Emery will miss the beginning of the 2022 season due to lingering issues, according to Brody Miller of The Athletic.

LSU will begin its 2022 campaign without its top running back.

According to a report from The Athletic’s Brody Miller, [autotag]John Emery Jr.[/autotag] is expected to be suspended for the first two games of the season — contests against Florida State in New Orleans and Southern in the home opener. Per Miller, the suspension has to do with the academic issues that held him out last season.

The Athletic also reports that cornerback Raydarious Jones has been suspended for the entire 2022 season due to academic issues.

Emery is reportedly in the process of appealing the suspension, arguing that he has been meeting academic standards since coach [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] and his support staff took over in November. LSU expects to know more within the next week, per Miller.

He apparently attempted to appeal the suspension that kept him from playing last season, as well, on the grounds of a number of hardships he faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Emery dealt with the death of his grandmother and two separate COVID infections. His stepfather also suffered from COVID complications and was hospitalized on a ventilator, per Miller.

Emery is a former five-star recruit who was expected to play a major role in 2021 prior to his suspension. In 19 appearances from 2019-20, Emery took 114 carries for 566 yards and seven touchdowns.

With the departure of [autotag]Ty Davis-Price[/autotag] to the NFL, Emery was expected to return to the field this fall and take over the starting role. However, cryptic comments from Kelly a few days ago cast doubt on his availability in 2022.

“There’s obviously things that I can’t talk about,” Kelly said. “He’s in good standing in football. So everything that he’s done, he’s done a great job with us in football.

“Everything that he’s done for us has been outstanding in football. Anything else that arises would not be anything that I can comment on because of privacy rights, so I think you guys can put the rest together.”

With Emery unavailable in the first two contests, LSU will likely rely on Penn State transfer [autotag]Noah Cain[/autotag] and [autotag]Armoni Goodwin[/autotag], as well as a former walk-on in [autotag]Josh Williams[/autotag] who has worked his way up the depth chart.

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Should we be concerned about LSU’s running backs?

LSU’s running backs have something to prove as they enter 2022.

[autotag]John Emery Jr.[/autotag] did not play a game in 2021 due to eligibility issues. According to [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag], his eligibility for the season opener remains in question.

Kelly added that he couldn’t get into it, but did expect Emery to contribute to the team this year.

Emery, a former five-star, is now entering his fourth year as a Tiger. This has been billed as his breakout year. If he were to miss some time, a wrench could be thrown into some of those plans. A running back room that already has something to prove would have even more questions.

[autotag]Corey Kiner[/autotag] transferred to Cincinnati in the spring, and [autotag]Tre Bradford[/autotag] is no longer on the roster.

If Emery is out against Florida State, LSU would enter the game with [autotag]Noah Cain[/autotag], [autotag]Armoni Goodwin[/autotag] and [autotag]Josh Williams[/autotag].

Cain and Goodwin would get the bulk of the touches, but what do we know about them?

In 2019, Cain was one of the best freshman backs in the country. He got hurt in 2020 and struggled in 2021. Reports from camp have spoken highly of Cain, but we’ll need to see it on the field first to believe he’s back to the player he was in 2019.

Goodwin was a top 100 recruit. He has the talent to be a star. He can make people miss on the outside and run between the tackles. He’s a decent receiver, too. He dealt with injuries in 2021 and never really got a chance to prove himself. He’s now a sophomore, but we still don’t really know who he is.

Even with Emery healthy, it looks like LSU will take more of a committee approach. Kelly said they don’t have that pure feature back on the roster right now.

If you wanted to read into that, you could say that Kelly doesn’t see any one of these guys as a game-changing star. If there were a true difference maker on the roster like that, he would have emerged as the feature back.

I still believe that over the course of the year, we will see one of these guys take the reigns. Emery, Cain, and Goodwin are all too talented for at least one to not break out.

A committee approach would be fine, too. Each one of these backs is different and they all serve a different purpose on this offense.

Kelly and OC [autotag]Mike Denbrock[/autotag] have built a lot of their offenses around the run game over the years. They’ll likely want to try and do that again this year.

For that to work, the questions we have about this room need to be answered soon. The talent is there and there are reasons for optimism, but it’s one of the areas worth watching when LSU takes the field against Florida State.

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John Emery Jr.’s status unclear entering season after cryptic comments from Brian Kelly

Kelly declined to comment on Emery’s availability entering the season.

Though much has been made about LSU’s quarterback competition, the ground game is really where the team needs to improve the most on offense this fall.

Last year, the team ranked second to last in the SEC in rushing with just over 109 yards per game, finishing ahead of only Mississippi State, which runs the air raid. That won’t cut it in 2022, and after leading rusher Ty Davis-Price’s departure for the NFL, it’s a fair area of concern.

LSU is hoping to have a piece it didn’t have access to last time around in [autotag]John Emery Jr.[/autotag], a former five-star recruit who missed all of last season due to academic ineligibility.

Emery was expected to return this fall, but after coach Brian Kelly’s press conference on Saturday, that has been called into question.

“There’s obviously things that I can’t talk about,” Kelly said. “He’s in good standing in football. So everything that he’s done, he’s done a great job with us in football.”

Asked specifically about Emery’s status entering the season, Kelly once again deflected.

“Everything that he’s done for us has been outstanding in football,” he said. “Anything else that arises would not be anything that I can comment on because of privacy rights, so I think you guys can put the rest together.”

Emery was a solid contributor during his first two seasons, reaching 378 yards and three touchdowns during his last available season as a sophomore in 2020. His presence became even more important after [autotag]Corey Kiner[/autotag] transferred to Cincinnati.

However, it remains unclear whether he will join the Tigers when they take the field against Florida State on Sept. 4, and if he isn’t available, LSU will likely rely on Penn State transfer [autotag]Noah Cain[/autotag], as well as players like [autotag]Armoni Goodwin[/autotag] and [autotag]Josh Williams[/autotag] to carry the running game.

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LSU running back Tre Bradford no longer on the team

Kelly said that Bradford is “separated from the university” and has been removed from the roster.

Running back is one of the deepest position groups on the roster for LSU, but it will be down one man from that group this fall.

Junior [autotag]Tre Bradford[/autotag] was removed from the Tigers’ roster, and after the first day of fall camp on Thursday, coach [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] confirmed that he is no longer with the team. The reason behind his departure remains unclear.

“Tre has been separated from the university,” Kelly said. “There are luckily laws that I can’t get into specifics there but he is no longer on the roster.”

The 6-foot, 210-pound native of Dallas was entering his third season in Baton Rouge. Following his true freshman season in 2020, he briefly transferred to Oklahoma but opted to return to LSU shortly before the 2021 season began.

He played in just one game last fall, taking two carries for 11 yards in the regular season finale against Texas A&M. In two seasons with the Tigers, he had 12 carries for 69 yards in six appearances.

While Bradford’s departure hurts the depth in the backfield, LSU still has a very talented group in [autotag]John Emery Jr.[/autotag], [autotag]Armoni Goodwin[/autotag], [autotag]Noah Cain[/autotag] and [autotag]Josh Williams[/autotag]. The running game should be able to take a step forward in Year 1 under Kelly.

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Projecting every LSU running back’s stats in 2022

Who’s going to step up among a talented group of backs this fall?

It’s projection season. The time when we get to wildly speculate about the upcoming season, even though we know we’re probably wrong. That doesn’t take away the fun.

We’re looking at LSU’s running back room and what the individual stats may look like when it’s all said and done this fall. Running backs are particularly hard because the number of carries each player gets will be determined by the flow of the game.

If LSU is good, it will be up in the fourth quarter and looking to put games away. If the Tigers are playing from behind, there will be plenty of passing and not a ton of rushes. LSU’s RB room is in decent shape, but there are some unknowns.

Will [autotag]John Emery Jr.[/autotag] finally break out with health and academic issues behind him? Will transfer [autotag]Noah Cain[/autotag] bounce back and look like the 2019 version of himself? Will LSU’s younger guys take the next step and live up to recruiting hype?

That’s a lot of questions, but we have those questions because we expect a lot from these guys. The talent is there, and if it shows, LSU’s offense will get a big boost in 2022.

Let’s look at what we should expect from each guy in 2022, starting with Emery.

Five standouts from LSU’s spring game on Saturday

Here were the players who caught our eye in the spring game.

After what has felt like a long first few months of the offseason, the LSU Tigers finally took the field on Saturday for the first time under [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] for the annual National L Club Spring Game in Death Valley.

There were some key players unavailable — including star receiver [autotag]Kayshon Boutte[/autotag] — and are several intriguing additions that haven’t arrived on campus yet, such as five-star true freshman linebacker [autotag]Harold Perkins[/autotag] and Penn State running back transfer [autotag]Noah Cain[/autotag].

Still, we were able to answer several pressing questions in our first look at this new Tigers team, and we have a clearer picture on where several position battles stand, including at quarterback.

With that in mind, here were five players who impressed in Saturday’s exhibition, which was ultimately called midway through the fourth quarter as the offense defeated the defense 59-31.

LSU running backs to provide a glimpse of the future

A glimpse of the future for LSU in the Texas Bowl.

The backfield is going to look a lot different when the LSU Tigers take the field against Kansas State. Not only did starting quarterback Max Johnson decide to transfer but now starting running back Ty Davis-Price is gone.

On Friday the junior running back decided to opt-out of the bowl game in preparation for the NFL draft. This leaves the Tigers without both starters and not a whole lot of experience. It remains to be seen who the quarterback will be in on Jan. 4, but we should have a really good idea about the running back.

Won’t Play: John Emery Jr, Junior

Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports

The unfortunate situation involving former five-star running back John Emery Jr prevented him from playing in 2021. However, heading into 2022 he will likely be the featured back. He has the most experience of any of the backs on the roster both current and future. Emery has a career total of 699 yards from scrimmage and seven touchdowns.

LSU hasn’t added a running back in the 2022 recruiting class as of yet but they have to feel good about either Tre’Vonte Citizen of Lake Charles or Trevor Etienne of Jennings, Louisiana.

As the Texas Bowl draws near, we look at the running backs that could be on display against the Kansas State Wildcats.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5

Final word on LSU-ULM: Tigers injury update

A look at the injury report for LSU

One final look at the LSU Tigers ahead of their primetime game against the ULM Warhawks.

The good news for LSU is that Ed Ingram and Sage Ryan return to the field for the team. Sage Ryan allows Dwight McGlothern and Cordale Flott to man the outside cornerback spots. Ryan will handle all of the nickelback role. Ingram returns to the offensive line at guard. That will help them protect their lone scholarship quarterback.

The offense will be without a handful of impactful players. Cam Wire went down with an injury against Arkansas last week and is done for the year. The team will also be without three of their five running backs. Against ULM the team should be just fine with just Ty Davis-Price and Corey Kiner. Next week they will likely need more than just two.

  • Cam Wire, Left Tackle (done for the season)
  • Josh Williams, Running Back (out)
  • Tre Bradford, Running Back (out)
  • Armoni Goodwin, Running Back (out)

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