In the end, LSU wisely opted to lean toward the cautious approach.
In the season-opening loss to Wisconsin last Saturday, Leonard Fournette sustained an injury to his left ankle late in the contest. Les Miles stated in the aftermath of the loss that the injury to the back’s ankle, the same ankle he injured during summer camp, wasn’t believed to be serious. Friday, the head coach said in an interview that “we won’t know until game day” whether the All-American will be a go or no-go vs. Jacksonville State in the home opener.
Not so surprisingly, the program confirmed just prior to the game against the FCS foe would be sidelined for the Week 2 game. Given the way the schedule sets up, the move makes sense.
LSU will open up SEC play next weekend against Mississippi State, which gave the Tigers additional incentive to erring toward a “better safe than sorry” strategy with the linchpin of the offense. As a matter of fact, in the Week 1 loss, Fournette was essentially the Tigers’ entire offense -- and will likely continue to shoulder that load for the remainder of the season.
Fournette rushed for 138 yards on 23 carries and also added 38 yards on three receptions. The rest of the Tiger skill-position players combined for 81 yards.