Tag: Josh Williams

BREAKING: LSU RB John Emery Jr. out for season with torn ACL

It’s a disappointing end to the season for the fifth-year senior.

The Tigers suffered a major blow to the running back room in Saturday’s win over Florida as [autotag]John Emery Jr.[/autotag] exited with what [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] said he feared would be a significant injury.

That turned out to be the case as Emery suffered a torn ACL and will miss the remainder of the season, Kelly said on Monday. Emery was seeing action alongside [autotag]Josh Williams[/autotag] in the absence of [autotag]Logan Diggs[/autotag], who missed the game and is questionable heading into Saturday’s game against Georgia State.

It’s a disappointing end to the season for the fifth-year senior who has had a winding journey in his time at LSU.

A former five-star running back, Emery saw rotational action in his first two seasons before missing the entirety of 2021 due to academic suspension. He was suspended to start both the 2022 and 2023 seasons, and he was away from the team for much of the past offseason focusing on academics before returning in the fall.

Without Emery, LSU will turn to Williams, [autotag]Noah Cain[/autotag] and true freshmen [autotag]Kaleb Jackson[/autotag] and [autotag]Trey Holly[/autotag].

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Rutgers football recruiting: Joshua Williams, who already has Big Ten offensive line size, is offered on Sunday

Josh Williams is offered by Rutgers football on Sunday.

Rutgers football sent out an offer this weekend to Josh Williams, an impressive athlete who plays along the offensive line. He is a strong and powerful prospect out of Pennsylvania, who already boasts Big Ten size.

Williams is a 6-foot-5, 325-pound guard from the Haverford School (Haverford, Pennsylvania). He holds offers from Boston College, Cal, Cincinnati, Duke, Nebraska, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Stanford, Virginia, Virginia Tech and West Virginia.

His most recent offer, prior to the one from Rutgers, came in late October from Virginia Tech. He is a member of the 2025 class.

On Sunday evening, Williams posted about the offer on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter:

Haverford finished the season 5-5. They play a strong schedule that includes Imhotep Charter (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) among other programs.

[lawrence-related id=32022,31985]

According to 247Sports, Williams is the No. 20 interior offensive lineman in the nation and the No. 13 overall prospect in Pennsylvania in next year’s class.

Injury News: LSU running back Logan Diggs not expected to play vs. Florida

The Tigers’ top running back is unlikely to play on Saturday night.

LSU fans got the news they were waiting for on Saturday morning as it was announced that quarterback [autotag]Jayden Daniels[/autotag], who was listed as probable with a head injury earlier in the week, will make the start against Florida.

It wasn’t all positive news on the injury front, however. Running back [autotag]Logan Diggs[/autotag] was listed as questionable on Thursday with an upper-body injury, and on Friday, his status was downgraded to doubtful.

Saturday morning, On3’s Matt Zenitz reported that Diggs is not expected to play.

Without Diggs available, LSU would instead turn to [autotag]Josh Williams[/autotag] and [autotag]John Emery Jr.[/autotag], as well as possibly true freshman [autotag]Kaleb Jackson[/autotag] and veteran [autotag]Noah Cain[/autotag], as well as production on the ground from Daniels, who led the team in rushing last week against Alabama.

Diggs has been a nice addition to this offense, which struggled to find production on the ground outside of Daniels last fall. If he’s unable to go, LSU will likely have to lean more heavily on the passing game than it already has been.

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LSU’s Trey Holly named SEC Freshman of the Week

On Saturday night, LSU fans got their first look at true freshman Trey Holly.

On Saturday night, LSU fans got their first look at true freshman [autotag]Trey Holly[/autotag].

Holly was a four-star running back from Farmerville, Louisiana. He will likely be redshirted this year but he got his time in the spotlight against Army.

Holly finished the night with six rushing attempts for 91 yards and a touchdown with his biggest play being a 67-yard scoring run with 52 seconds left in the game. Holly finished the night with the most rushing yards on the team in only his first game, and he took home SEC Freshman of the Week honors for his efforts.

LSU has a full stable of running backs consisting of [autotag]John Emery Jr.[/autotag], [autotag]Noah Cain[/autotag], [autotag]Logan Diggs[/autotag], [autotag]Kaleb Jackson[/autotag] and [autotag]Josh Williams[/autotag].

With that much talent, it’s hard to divvy out enough carries for everyone. Diggs has become the No. 1 running back on the team with some combination of Emery/Williams/Cain/Jackson after him. With the new redshirt rule, [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] has the opportunity to redshirt a guy as talented as Holly and still be able to play him in at least four games.

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Josh Williams named finalist for Jason Witten Man of the Year Award

Josh Williams was one of 20 finalists for the Jason Witten Man of the Year Award.

LSU running back [autotag]Josh Williams[/autotag] was named a finalist for the Jason Witten Man of the Year Award. The award acknowledges a player for their leadership ability on and off the field.

Williams, who began his LSU career as a walk-on, earned a scholarship and became a factor in the LSU running back room and on special teams.

[autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] has praised Williams for his leadership on several occasions and selected him as one of LSU’s representatives at SEC media days in the summer.

Williams is averaging a career-high 8.5 yards per attempt in 2023 and with 888 rushing yards in his career, he has a chance to reach the 1,000-yard mark soon.

He led LSU running backs in 2022 with 532 running yards, which included some big plays against Alabama.

Williams was one of 20 finalists for the award. Other notable nominees include Notre Dame’s Sam Hartman, USC’s Caleb Williams, and FSU’s Jordan Travis.

Last year’s award went to Pittsburgh’s Deslin Alexandre.

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Brian Kelly discusses LSU’s skill position talent after Auburn win

For the first time this season, Kyren Lacy led the team in receiving yards as he caught four passes for 111 yards and a touchdown.

[autotag]Jayden Daniels[/autotag] did an incredible job facilitating the ball on Saturday night as he connected with eight different receivers and threw for 325 yards and three touchdowns.

For the first time this season, Kyren Lacy led the team in receiving yards as he caught four passes for 111 yards and a touchdown. It was more than just the wide receivers, though. Daniels got the running backs and tight ends involved. [autotag]Kaleb Jackson[/autotag], [autotag]Mason Taylor[/autotag], [autotag]John Emery Jr.[/autotag] and [autotag]Josh Williams[/autotag] all recorded a reception against the Auburn Tigers.

[autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] was asked about the amount of playmakers he has on his team after the game and here is what he had to say.

“Yeah, Mason Taylor getting involved, the tight ends. It’s pretty impressive,” Kelly said. “And I thought we did a good job of getting every the ball, Kyren Lacy probably had a breakout game, he drops one and comes to the sideline and said, ‘Coach, I owe you one.’ I said ‘No, you owe me two.’ And he got us two, maybe Kyren doesn’t respond the right way and maybe drops his head a little bit. He’s matured so much that he stayed positive and said, ‘Coach, when I get my chance, I’m going to make it up.’ And it was great to see him do that.

“We can throw a lot of guys at you and we keep those legs fresh. You know, I thought (offensive coordinator) Mike (Denbrock) did a really good job of mixing things up. I mean, you didn’t know if it was run or pass, and then when we needed to get physical, we were able to do that and roll up our sleeves. It was, it was a really, really good performance.”

LSU will welcome Army into Baton Rouge next weekend.

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Instant Analysis: Malik Nabers, Jayden Daniels star as LSU blows out Mississippi State in SEC opener

LSU put on a clinic on both sides of the ball in Saturday’s SEC-opening win over the Bulldogs.

LSU reminded the college football world that this team is still very much a threat on Saturday.

Facing Mississippi State in a morning kickoff on the road, the Tigers shrugged off any potential sluggishness. They jumped on the Bulldogs early and never let up, ultimately earning a statement 41-14 win over their SEC West rival.

It was perhaps the best and certainly the most efficient game of [autotag]Jayden Daniels[/autotag]’ career as he completed 30 of 34 passes for 361 yards and two touchdowns while adding 64 yards and two more scores on the ground. A lot of his production through the air had to do with the play of [autotag]Malik Nabers[/autotag], who was seemingly unguardable.

Nabers finished with 13 catches for 239 yards and a pair of touchdowns, doing most of that damage in the first half. As far as the rest of the ground game goes, it wasn’t prolific but [autotag]Logan Diggs[/autotag], [autotag]Josh Williams[/autotag] and [autotag]Kaleb Jackson[/autotag] all had solid contributions, with Williams finding the end zone.

As explosive as the offense was, the defense was just as impressive. LSU pitched a shutout until the final minutes of the second quarter, and even then, Mississippi State never really got things rolling.

The Bulldogs are a far cry from the air raid team we’ve seen in recent years. Will Rogers struggled with efficiency, completing just 11 of 28 passes for 103 yards. Running back Jo’Quavious Marks got his, finishing with 75 yards on just eight carries, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

MSU went 3 of 13 on third downs, and with quick three and outs, LSU established an early two-score lead and took control of the game.

The team also had promising signs in the pass-rushing game with [autotag]Harold Perkins[/autotag], [autotag]Saivion Jones[/autotag], [autotag]Major Burns[/autotag] and [autotag]Mekhi Wingo[/autotag] all recording sacks.

LSU begins SEC play 1-0 and will return home next weekend to host Arkansas.

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Brian Kelly talks about his stable of running backs

It’s no secret that LSU has a stable full of uber-talented running backs this season.

It’s no secret that LSU has a stable full of uber-talented running backs this season. [autotag]Logan Diggs[/autotag], [autotag]John Emery Jr.[/autotag], [autotag]Noah Cain[/autotag], [autotag]Armoni Goodwin[/autotag], [autotag]Trey Holly[/autotag], [autotag]Josh Williams[/autotag], [autotag]Kaleb Jackson[/autotag], [autotag]Malachi Lane[/autotag] and [autotag]Tre Bradford[/autotag] make up what could be one of the best running back corps in the country.

Having that many talented running backs is all fun and games until it comes time to divvy out the carries among each of them. The Tigers have not run into that as much yet due to injuries and whatever is going on with Emery. We got our first look at Diggs against Grambling last weekend and he looked like he could be the feature back. Here is what [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] had to say about his running backs.

“We’re gonna feature a guy that is feeling it and is, ‘hot’, if you will,” he said. “We have enough depth that we can spell a guy and I think that’s a good thing. I still think that we are in a position to find out who that featured player is but I still think we can play multiple backs and still have the kind of continuity at the position that is necessary.”

We will see how the running back room develops over the season.

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Instant Analysis: LSU drops 72 points in dominating home-opening win over Grambling

The Tigers bounced back in a big way with Saturday night’s 72-10 win over Grambling.

LSU got the bounce-back it was looking for at Tiger Stadium on Saturday night as the team breezed to a declarative 72-10 win over Grambling in its Week 2 home opener, tying for the third-most points scored in a game in program history.

The offense led by [autotag]Jayden Daniels[/autotag] had a much more efficient and balanced game than it did in the loss to Florida State. Daniels finished with 269 yards and five touchdowns — a career high — through the air, all of which came in the first half.

Daniels also completed 18 of 24 passes.

[autotag]Garrett Nussmeier[/autotag] took over to start the second half, and while he wasn’t given the opportunity to do a whole lot, he completed 4 of 6 passes for 48 yards, 20 of which came on one play to [autotag]Malik Nabers[/autotag], and finished a touchdown drive with his legs.

True freshman [autotag]Rickie Collins[/autotag] also saw sporadic action late in the game, though he attempted and completed just a pair of passes for three yards.

Nabers ultimately led the team in receiving with 87 yards and a touchdown on five catches, while it was also another big night for [autotag]Brian Thomas Jr.[/autotag], who led the team in catches with six for 78 yards while catching a pair of touchdown passes.

The Tigers got a much bigger contribution from their ground game on Saturday night as [autotag]Logan Diggs[/autotag] had 115 yards and a touchdown on just 15 carries in his LSU debut after he missed last week’s game. Freshman [autotag]Kaleb Jackson[/autotag] found the end zone twice while also totaling 62 yards on 11 carries.

[autotag]Josh Williams[/autotag] (6 carries, 43 yards) and [autotag]Noah Cain[/autotag] (7 carries, 33 yards, 1 TD) also had solid production on the ground.

Defensively, it was a bit of a sloppy start as the Tigers allowed 259 yards in the first half. They tightened up after that, though, allowing just 61 yards in the second half.

It was another fairly quiet game for [autotag]Harold Perkins[/autotag], who saw more snaps off the edge but managed just one tackle. He did, however, breakup a pass and had a quarterback pressure that caused LSU only interception of the game, which was snagged by [autotag]Greg Penn III[/autotag] on a tip drill.

LSU showed signs of improvement against an inferior opponent, but it will face a tougher test next Saturday when it hits the road to take on Mississippi State in its SEC opener.

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Brian Kelly addresses Logan Diggs’ absence against Florida State

It seems Logan Diggs was not 100% as he was held out in what Brian Kelly called a “coach’s decision.”

Outside of Jayden Daniels’ solid production on the ground, LSU’s running backs failed to make much of an impact against a strong Florida State defensive front in Sunday night’s 45-24 loss to Florida State.

Disregarding a 35-yard run by [autotag]Josh Williams[/autotag] — the group’s only explosive carry of the night — LSU’s running back room totaled just 14 yards on 11 carries.

There were some key players missing, however. [autotag]Armoni Goodwin[/autotag] was out as he continues to work his way back from a hamstring injury, while [autotag]John Emery Jr.[/autotag] was unavailable for unspecified reasons.

However, one surprise was that [autotag]Logan Diggs[/autotag], a Notre Dame transfer and late addition to the roster, didn’t suit up. After the game, coach [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] addressed Diggs’ absence and the play of the group, in general.

“Well, I mean, everybody is searching for balance in the running game,” he said. “So we didn’t have the kind of balance that we needed. Logan Diggs was a coach’s decision. I don’t know quite whether he’s a hundred percent and able to practice at the level that we need him to quite yet.

Yeah, I mean, look, everybody is looking for that balance in the running game. You saw what we tried to do. We tried to run the football in those very important downs, and we weren’t as effective. And we are going to go back and we are going to work on it, and we are going to continue to be diligent in those areas because we’ve got to be better at it. So we’ve got a minimum of 11 more games, and I’m going to tell you now that we are going to be better and we are going to commit ourselves to that.”

Though he wasn’t listed on the injury report during the week, it seems the coaches saw something that caused them to scratch him from the active roster.

LSU will hope it can find more production from its run game beyond Daniels once the running back room is back closer to full strength in the coming weeks.

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