Riding the ‘hot hand’ paying dividends for LSU running game
BATON ROUGE, La. — Is Clyde Edwards-Helaire a … scatback? Change of pace back? Multi-purpose back fits the bill.
Whatever you want to label LSU’s sophomore tailback, he’ll accept it and move on. Just acknowledge he can also run between the tackles.
Edwards-Helaire has tallied 403 yards and three touchdowns over the past four games, including a career-best 145 yards on the ground in the Tigers’ romping over No. 2 Georgia. Combined with Nick Brossette, the LSU backfield has churned out 944 yards in that time span, the most among SEC teams.
It’s fair to say that Edwards-Helaire has had the “hot hand” of late, topping the century mark twice in the past month. The breakout wasn’t planned — rather, a welcomed surprise in the running back room.
“We never really know what the touch count is going to be. I guess so far, it’s been whoever has the hot hand,” Edwards-Helaire explained. “I know if Nick’s on more of a roll, let him get those spins and keep going. You don’t want to get taken out where you’re in a groove. That something a running back doesn’t like. Coach (Steve) Ensminger is more about whoever can make a play happen, get him in the game.”
Lately, that’s been Edwards-Helaire.
He found a role in the offense with the onset of the Wild Clyde, lined up behind center and bulldozing one yard into the end zone to put the Tigers ahead against Auburn on the road. Edwards-Helaire set a career-high mark in rushing with 136 yards and two more scores the following week against Louisiana Tech.
Early success translated to more carries each week after, parlaying into a team-leading 19 touches against Georgia on Saturday as Ensminger called an up-tempo game with a multitude of zone-running plays that Edwards-Helaire has thrived in this season.
“It was a lot harder for defenses to adjust to,” he explained. “A lot of the teams we’ve been playing in the SEC like to put the strength toward the back or toward the tight end, but when you do that, they can’t line up in their go-to defense. Against one of the best rush defenses in the country, what the defensive coordinator had planned, it was too fast. They didn’t see it on film or didn’t expect us to be as fast we ran on Saturday. That was the X-factor in the game.”
Edwards-Helaire has picked up right where Brossette left off with his torrid start to his senior year.
Brossette put the country on notice with a breakout 125-yard, two-touchdown effort in the season opener against Miami. He topped 100 yards on the ground each of the first two weeks and leads the team with 640 yards and nine touchdowns.
Together Brossette and Edwards-Helaire are LSU’s 2018 version of Darrel Williams and Derrius Guice. They blend a certain downhill rushing style with a threat around the edge, which is not surprising considering both backs were understudies to their those alums a year ago as they awaited their turns.
“Nick is kind of closer to Darrel’s running style and I was closest to Derrius’ … everything we do goes back to them, asking them questions,” said Edwards-Helaire, who is all-too-familiar with following in Guice’s footsteps dating back to his time at Catholic High and even before that.
“I’ve been asking Derrius questions since park ball and how I could’ve done things. I’m pretty sure Nick and Darrel had those same one-on-one conversations. This most recent year, I’ve been able to get Nick’s point of views on certain runs as far as how he would’ve read it or his patience. Coach T-Rob says every running back has a different set of eyes, so to be able to get a broader view when you the run the ball and put that in your head, your eyes tend to make certain decisions.”
As No. 5 LSU braces to welcome No. 22 Mississippi State into town on Saturday night, Ensminger again will have the option to lean on either Brossette or Edwards-Helaire.
Thus far, each of LSU’s two leading rushers has carved out their own roles in the game plan — Brossette between the tackles and Edwards-Helaire as the zone-read threat. Coach Ed Orgeron warned the media not to discount Edwards-Helaire as a back that can run between the tackles on Monday, giving the team another way to take advantage of its multi-talented tailback.
“You can put me in the scat-back category because of the other backs we have on the team and whatnot. I can break tackles — that’s been my thing since high school, breaking tackles and finding the opening,” Edwards-Helaire shrugged. “Scatback is probably the word tossed in there because I can find open seams, show a little cutback that some backs can’t see. I’m more versatile, I would say. Overall, I’m versatile … being able to contrast off the other backs. That’s the word that fits.”