Five-Star LSU Football Freshman Deserving of More Playing Time After Strong Start

Brian Kelly and the LSU Tigers' woes on offense continued in Week 5 against the Ole Miss Rebels with the program falling 24-19 at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

No. 13 LSU remained unable to find a groove on offense despite a promising second drive in the first quarter that led to a touchdown reception for Oklahoma transfer wide receiver Nic Anderson.

From there, Kelly and Co. were unable to generate productive, methodical drives with the offense forced to punt it away after multiple momentum-killling possessions.

LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier remains at the forefront of the conversation after a sluggish start to the season.

Across the first five games of the season, Nussmeier has thrown for 1,159 yards, seven touchdowns and three interceptions.

LSU Tigers Football: Garrett Nussmeier. — Courtesy of LSU Tigers Football.

The redshirt-senior quarterback is leading an LSU offense that is averaging just 27.0 points per game - the third worst in the SEC.

On Saturday at Ole Miss, it was another challenging day at the offense where he was held to just 197 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception in the 24-19 loss in Oxford.

“Disappointed in the loss, certainly,” LSU head coach Brian Kelly said on Saturday. “There is a game within the game. You start with the first half, where our inability to sustain anything on the offensive side of the ball put our defense on the field for 50 plays.

“At the end of the day, when you put it all together for four quarters, we didn’t play complementary football, which you have to do in this league. You have to be able to complement your offense and defense. When our offense started to move the ball, our defense couldn’t get the stop.”

But Nussmeier is only one piece to the early-season struggles with the program's rushing attack nonexistent across five games.

The LSU offense is averaging 104.8 yards per game across the first five games of the season - which places the Tigers at No. 121 in America in that statistic.

On Saturday against the Ole Miss Rebels, LSU ran the ball 22 times for an alarming 57 total yards on the ground.

The rushing attack has been abysmal for the Bayou Bengals across five games with a lack of complementary football on offense.

But there is one bright spot to the offense: Five-star true freshman running back Harlem Berry.

The Metairie (La.) St. Martin's Episcopal five-star is a player that is deserving of more playing time down the stretch of the season after another efficient showing against Ole Miss.

LSU Tigers Football: Harlem Berry. — Courtesy of Harlem Berry's Instagram.

Berry scored his first career touchdown in Oxford on his way to leading the Tigers in rushing yards.

On the season, Berry has ran for 109 rushing yards on 22 carries (5.0 yards per carry) with a touchdown.

Moving forward, it's clear the elusiveness of Berry will be a key piece in getting the offense back on track in Baton Rouge.

“He required a conversation. Running the football is so much more about getting to the next level and making guys miss and he did a great job," Kelly said earlier this season of more touches for Berry.

"He extended a play. We knew he was talented, but this is much more about catching up to the system we run, protections out of the backfield, right reads, but it required a conversation that this is a guy we have to keep an eye on.”

LSU will return to action on Oct. 11 against a LaNorris Sellers led South Carolina Gamecocks for a night game in Tiger Stadium.

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