- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
Optimism/Sunshine pumping regarding OL and running game
Posted on 9/28/25 at 11:58 am
Posted on 9/28/25 at 11:58 am
My guy DBG said in a different thread that he’d like to see Curne starting moving forward. I agree, but think/blind hope, that the staff was just trying to get through the Ole Miss game and was always going to re-evaluate the OL and make changes. I typed a ridiculously long (Hot Carl style) post that began by focusing on Curne, but a few more ideas popped up, so I’ll just make this its own thread.
I thought he played well, considering. And the main thing to consider that I haven’t seen anybody mention, is that the Davis injury literally came at the worst time possible. Pregame warmups. Which means Curne probably took close to zero 1st team reps this week, then was thrown in in just a brutal situation for a true freshman.
Davis has been so terrible that the knee jerk reaction is probably that it was no big deal, or maybe even a blessing in disguise. I’d argue that because he’s been so bad, he probably got EXTRA reps in practice leading up to this game. When someone is struggling, you can go 1 of 2 ways in a week of prep: 1) give the backup more reps to push him or 2) give him more reps to get ready.
I bet they went with option 2. For a couple of reasons. One, it hasn’t looked as much of a physical deal with Davis as a mental one. He was having a really hard time recognizing things pre-snap, was picking up the wrong defender too often on basic defensive looks, but when they would run twists and stunts, he would get confused and let guys get by him with an unimpeded rush straight to Nuss. It hurt in both the passing and running game.
So since I think it’s been more mental with Davis. And he’s a redshirt freshman who’d only started 4 career games, so he just needs as many reps as possible, in game and in practice, I bet he took more practice reps leading up to Saturday than most weeks. (And not everybody is Will Campbell or Emory Jones. Anybody giving up on Davis already 4 games into his redshirt freshman season is being ridiculous).
The 2nd reason I think they likely went all in on Davis instead of Curne—I mean giving Curne enough reps to legitimately win the job last week—is that they obviously didn’t want him making his 1st start on the road in the SEC in a what was going to be a very hostile environment. This went really untalked about, but I’m almost positive that Curne got nicked up the last couple of weeks of camp. I’m almost positive I remember Hunt Palmer saying he missed liken the last 2 weeks of practice that the media had access to, but it was kinda poo-pooed since he didn’t figure to be a factor early on anyway. He did, though, play in either the last or next to last scrimmage and had a few false starts, and they just took him out. Because remember how focused we were on beating Clemson, if he couldn’t keep from false starting in scrimmages at LSU with no crowd, there was no way they were going to trust him to play the opener, at Clemson, at night.
I thought he played well, considering. And the main thing to consider that I haven’t seen anybody mention, is that the Davis injury literally came at the worst time possible. Pregame warmups. Which means Curne probably took close to zero 1st team reps this week, then was thrown in in just a brutal situation for a true freshman.
Davis has been so terrible that the knee jerk reaction is probably that it was no big deal, or maybe even a blessing in disguise. I’d argue that because he’s been so bad, he probably got EXTRA reps in practice leading up to this game. When someone is struggling, you can go 1 of 2 ways in a week of prep: 1) give the backup more reps to push him or 2) give him more reps to get ready.
I bet they went with option 2. For a couple of reasons. One, it hasn’t looked as much of a physical deal with Davis as a mental one. He was having a really hard time recognizing things pre-snap, was picking up the wrong defender too often on basic defensive looks, but when they would run twists and stunts, he would get confused and let guys get by him with an unimpeded rush straight to Nuss. It hurt in both the passing and running game.
So since I think it’s been more mental with Davis. And he’s a redshirt freshman who’d only started 4 career games, so he just needs as many reps as possible, in game and in practice, I bet he took more practice reps leading up to Saturday than most weeks. (And not everybody is Will Campbell or Emory Jones. Anybody giving up on Davis already 4 games into his redshirt freshman season is being ridiculous).
The 2nd reason I think they likely went all in on Davis instead of Curne—I mean giving Curne enough reps to legitimately win the job last week—is that they obviously didn’t want him making his 1st start on the road in the SEC in a what was going to be a very hostile environment. This went really untalked about, but I’m almost positive that Curne got nicked up the last couple of weeks of camp. I’m almost positive I remember Hunt Palmer saying he missed liken the last 2 weeks of practice that the media had access to, but it was kinda poo-pooed since he didn’t figure to be a factor early on anyway. He did, though, play in either the last or next to last scrimmage and had a few false starts, and they just took him out. Because remember how focused we were on beating Clemson, if he couldn’t keep from false starting in scrimmages at LSU with no crowd, there was no way they were going to trust him to play the opener, at Clemson, at night.
2
Posted on 9/28/25 at 11:59 am to Hot Carl
And I may be giving the staff too much credit, but I think they were trying to just survive through Saturday, and then do some experimenting/shuffling/making changes on the OL during these next 2 weeks. It wouldn’t surprise me if Echols takes the LG job over Mubanga. And another move to potentially consider is Curne at RG and kicking Thomspon out to RT. Thomspon has been a disappointment—that fricking false start on 4th and 6 inches was almost unforgivable—and he’s probably not an SEC tackle level athlete.
But since I think Davis’s biggest problems have been mental, Thompson could be an upgrade there by just knowing who to block on every play. And Curne could just focus on more on using his strength and athleticism to just maul people, which could help tremendously in the running game. (He had a really impressive play on a short screen or pass to a RB out of the backfield where he got out in front as the lead blocker and just dominated a linebacker in space. Of course he’s going to be much stronger than a LB, but it was his overall athleticism that really stood out on that particular play. He may have had a few more of those, but I wasn’t watching him most of the game). That athleticism could allow him to be more effective at pulling on running plays to the left side as well, which could help in the running game too.
But since I think Davis’s biggest problems have been mental, Thompson could be an upgrade there by just knowing who to block on every play. And Curne could just focus on more on using his strength and athleticism to just maul people, which could help tremendously in the running game. (He had a really impressive play on a short screen or pass to a RB out of the backfield where he got out in front as the lead blocker and just dominated a linebacker in space. Of course he’s going to be much stronger than a LB, but it was his overall athleticism that really stood out on that particular play. He may have had a few more of those, but I wasn’t watching him most of the game). That athleticism could allow him to be more effective at pulling on running plays to the left side as well, which could help in the running game too.
Posted on 9/28/25 at 12:00 pm to Hot Carl
We were actually able to run the ball a bit that last drive
Even had a huge hole on that Berry TD
Even had a huge hole on that Berry TD
Posted on 9/28/25 at 12:05 pm to KD Burner Account
quote:
We were actually able to run the ball a bit that last drive Even had a huge hole on that Berry TD
Yes, but that was because OM went to a prevent D. They let us run clock. Don’t let that late success fool you.
Posted on 9/28/25 at 12:15 pm to Hot Carl
Now that may expose us up the middle on pass rush more and Nuss may get some guys coming free up the middle as DCs will attempt to take advantage of the (potentially) 2 freshmen guards, but aren’t they already doing that anyway with Mubanga, Thompson, and an obviously hobbled Moore (who was bad yesterday). It seems like most of the sacks Nuss has taken had been from pressure up the middle that he can’t escape, rather than off the edges.
Which leads me to a couple more reasons for optimism. The weeks off are going to help Moore and, hopefully, Durham get back close to 100%. Which will be huge. And I think they were going to do this anyway this week, but with Durham out—he should be in a boot the next 2 weeks—it should allow us to really focus on getting Berry more involved in the offense. I’d give him all the 1st team reps the next 2 weeks. And damnit, Jackson showed signs of a little life—I think he was going to have a bigger role, especially catching the ball out of the backfield—but that late drop he had was absolutely killer and may have put him back in the doghouse.
I like Johnnson, but he just doesn’t look like a traditional RB (and why would he?). He doesn’t have the instincts or body type—it’s like he’s too upright—to be a guy who lines up in the backfield and takes handoffs. He’s done an admirable job being forced to do it, and he still has a significant role in this offense, but I think it should look more like it did last year, more gadgety, than how he’s been used this year. He just needs a couple more touches than he was getting last year.
Which leads me to a couple more reasons for optimism. The weeks off are going to help Moore and, hopefully, Durham get back close to 100%. Which will be huge. And I think they were going to do this anyway this week, but with Durham out—he should be in a boot the next 2 weeks—it should allow us to really focus on getting Berry more involved in the offense. I’d give him all the 1st team reps the next 2 weeks. And damnit, Jackson showed signs of a little life—I think he was going to have a bigger role, especially catching the ball out of the backfield—but that late drop he had was absolutely killer and may have put him back in the doghouse.
I like Johnnson, but he just doesn’t look like a traditional RB (and why would he?). He doesn’t have the instincts or body type—it’s like he’s too upright—to be a guy who lines up in the backfield and takes handoffs. He’s done an admirable job being forced to do it, and he still has a significant role in this offense, but I think it should look more like it did last year, more gadgety, than how he’s been used this year. He just needs a couple more touches than he was getting last year.
Posted on 9/28/25 at 12:33 pm to doubleb
Well Ole Miss pretty much ran prevent the whole time and we refused to run the ball
Posted on 9/28/25 at 12:36 pm to Hot Carl
And I didn’t think yesterday was the time to do it—you’ve got to win or lose that game with your 5th-year Senior QB, but I think we’ve got to start prepping MVB more to be ready to take over at any time. We aren’t winning many games with yesterday’s Nuss. I do think he’s obviously still hurt, and while he may be better than he was a couple of weeks ago, then he’s protecting himself subconsciously, which is understandable considering our OL woes.
And I know MVB isn’t Jayden Daniels and looks to pass 1st as well, he’s mobile enough to escape that inside pressure and get outside the pocket and keep plays alive that Nuss is either taking sacks on or throwing balls up off his backfoot with zero zip and into pressure.
I wouldn’t let Nuss throw a single pass this week. And I maybe wouldn’t even the next. South Carolina is nowhere near as good as they were expected to be, we should absolutely beat them at home with an MVB who had 2 weeks of 1st team reps and a game plan designed for his strengths.
Tl;dr—there is reason for hope. They’ve been nagging injuries—which is good—but the offensive injuries have added up and affected every part of the offense. We have a nice 2-3 week stretch to get healthy, make changes, and be ready for the brutal stretch coming up in a month. The goal(s) are to not lose 3 games and to be playing our best football in November (and hopefully December). And they’re still very possible.
ETA—I don’t know who our analysts are, but they need to be putting in 18 hour days self scouting.
ETA 2–I totally forgot about A Anderson’s injury yesterday. That was devastating. He’s our best player and we may still have pulled that game out if he doesn’t go down. What, were we like 2 or 3 of 11 on 3rd downs? You can’t win like that. If Anderson is healthy, that’s likely at least 5-13 and enough to keep just enough drives going to score a few more points and keep our defense off the field and holding Ole Miss to a few less.
And I know MVB isn’t Jayden Daniels and looks to pass 1st as well, he’s mobile enough to escape that inside pressure and get outside the pocket and keep plays alive that Nuss is either taking sacks on or throwing balls up off his backfoot with zero zip and into pressure.
I wouldn’t let Nuss throw a single pass this week. And I maybe wouldn’t even the next. South Carolina is nowhere near as good as they were expected to be, we should absolutely beat them at home with an MVB who had 2 weeks of 1st team reps and a game plan designed for his strengths.
Tl;dr—there is reason for hope. They’ve been nagging injuries—which is good—but the offensive injuries have added up and affected every part of the offense. We have a nice 2-3 week stretch to get healthy, make changes, and be ready for the brutal stretch coming up in a month. The goal(s) are to not lose 3 games and to be playing our best football in November (and hopefully December). And they’re still very possible.
ETA—I don’t know who our analysts are, but they need to be putting in 18 hour days self scouting.
ETA 2–I totally forgot about A Anderson’s injury yesterday. That was devastating. He’s our best player and we may still have pulled that game out if he doesn’t go down. What, were we like 2 or 3 of 11 on 3rd downs? You can’t win like that. If Anderson is healthy, that’s likely at least 5-13 and enough to keep just enough drives going to score a few more points and keep our defense off the field and holding Ole Miss to a few less.
Posted on 9/28/25 at 12:41 pm to KD Burner Account
quote:
Well Ole Miss pretty much ran prevent the whole time and we refused to run the ball
We refused to run the ball because we couldn’t run the ball. Which is why there’s hope if we can get healthy. No excuse to not have Berry be a bigger part of the game plan, though, especially in the 1st half, considering we knew Durham was almost definitely not going to play.
Page 1 of 1
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News