Edwards-Helaire cherishes his career rushing night with big brother Guice

BATON ROUGE, La. — Sept. 22 will forever be a night to remember for LSU running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire.

No, it is because on that Saturday night the sophomore gashed Louisiana Tech for a career-high 136 yards and two touchdowns, or because LSU held on for a 38-21 victory, its fourth in a row to kick off the 2018 season.

Instead, in the week leading into Saturday, Edwards-Helaire saw his backfield mate, Nick Brossette, excel in the goal-line package on Thursday’s tune-up practice and guaranteed he’d find the end zone on game day. Just under six minutes into the game, Edwards-Helaire was proven right.

That was the best part of Edwards-Helaire’s Saturday night — witnessing Brossette score the first of his three touchdowns. The way they view it — the first of a combined five scores for the Tigers’ backfield.

After Brossette hit pay dirt, he raced over to Edwards-Helaire to perform the handshake passed down to them from Derrius Guice and Darrel Williams a year ago — three slaps, then shush the crowd, a LeBron James push up, then 1-2-3, look up and “All Glory To God.”

The proverbial passing of the torches from one running back tandem to the next signaled a new era in LSU’s backfield that through four games has translated to almost 170 yards per game and 10 total touchdowns, tied for fourth-most in the vaunted SEC. Edwards-Helaire cemented his role in the backfield committee on Saturday night, a milestone for the second-year Tiger who in between “blocking out the noise” certainly heard whispers about a backfield lacking star power before the season.

“I know what Derrius did, what Darrel did, Terrence McGee, all those guys … being able to watch them growing up, it’s my position, so coming in you have to understand what you have to do on your own pedestal,” Edwards-Helaire explained. “We knew the situation. We were a young offense and now we’re proving our talent.”

“Through four games, we’ve kind of hit that mark,” he continued. “The run game … it’s not shabby at all. We got recruited here for a reason and we’re doing what we have to do to win games.”

Not shabby … especially considering the paths that Brossette and Edwards-Helaire took to this point.

Brossette, a senior, had been buried on LSU’s depth chart his first three seasons on the team behind current NFL running backs such as Guice, Williams and former No. 4 overall pick Leonard Fournette. Between 2015-17, the Baton Rouge product had mustered 46 carries for 306 yards, no carry more infamous that the fumble to open the Troy game a year ago. Brossette didn’t get the first carry of the season for the Tigers in their opener against Miami in AT&T Stadium, but he did score his first touchdown. That total has ballooned to five entering Week 5.

Edwards-Helaire was a Rivals 3-star prospect in 2017. He earned an offer from Les Miles and Cam Cameron after steamrolling Rummel in the 2016 Division I state championship game, a breakout game after years of backing up none other than Guice at Catholic High. But at 5-foot-8 and a shade under 200 pounds, he was never viewed in the same light as those he looked up to. That same recruiting class, LSU fans were fixated on Mississippi 5-star Cam Akers, who selected Florida State over the Tigers right after Christmas.

“Block out the noise” is a popular mantra in LSU’s locker room, but Orgeron’s slogan for the 2018 season fits Edwards-Helaire’s approach all too well. He wasn’t the highest-rated recruit and was a fourth-stringer when he arrived on campus, but his self-confidence never waned.

“If you put your mind to it, it can happen,” Edwards-Helaire begins.

“It’s our room and we’re the guys that got our numbers called that night (against Tech). We produced and now it’s etched in stone. For all the talk all summer and all throughout camp, it’s something to be remembered.”

Edwards-Helaire backed up Guice in high school, often serving as the scout team running back while Guice received all the first-team reps with the starting offense at tailback. That theme continued to the collegiate level, as Guice, then a junior was officially on college football’s biggest stage as the Tigers’ All-World Jenga piece on offense.

A second-round pick of the Washington Redskins, Guice returned to Baton Rouge on Saturday to serve as an honorary captain for his alma mater. Though his rookie season was lost, Guice — in typical fashion — remains in high spirits. He met with Brossette and Edwards-Helaire before the game and was the first to meet with the running backs following the 38-21 victory.

Just as he did four years ago when he left Catholic High to depart for LSU, Guice pulled Edwards-Helaire aside and commend him for his career day. Yet again, Edwards-Helaire has followed in the same footsteps as Guice, this time with the Tigers. The sophomore tailback has been emulating him since he was 5 years old. As Edwards-Helaire puts it, it’s something he can’t shake.

As if the celebratory handshake with Brossette wasn’t meaningful enough, having the opportunity to slap, shush, push up and look to the sky with Guice provided plenty of affirmation to Edwards-Helaire on his continued path from the scout team to spotlight.

“I remember him (Guice) saying, ‘You worked it for all last year.’ The guys know how much of a mental thing it is to play on the scout team when you come from starting in high school,” Edwards-Helaire explained. “It’s something you have to do, but I also did in high school four years ago. I’ve watched from the scout team behind him to then get my chance to play. It’s our opportunity now and he told me to make the best of it.”

History suggests that Edwards-Helaire will.