When it comes to the will-he, won’t-he drama swirling around LSU running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, there’s yet another update as it pertains to the playoffs. Sort of.
Edwards-Helaire suffered a hamstring injury in practice earlier this month, leaving his status for Saturday’s Peach Bowl in doubt. Earlier this week, though, Ed Orgeron stated that there’s a chance Edwards-Helaire will play against Oklahoma in one of the College Football Playoff semifinals Saturday.
On the eve of that matchup, the head coach offered the latest on the status of the Tigers’ leading rusher. Included in that update was Orgeron being optimistic despite the back not yet practicing since suffering the injury.
From SaturdayDownSouth.com:[Edwards-Helaire] has not practiced yet. He got with the trainers, did a little more yesterday. He felt a little sore after he worked out. I talked to him last night.
“Obviously, if Clyde is ready to play, we are going to let him play. That’s going to be a game-time decision. The trainers are going to let us know if he’s able to play, first of all, then I’m going to ask him, ‘Are you ready to play?’ Knowing Clyde, he’s going to want to play.
“Do I think he plays? Yeah. How much he plays? I don’t know. We still have a ways to go there. He’s still a little sore, he’s still not 100 percent healthy, obviously. I don’t know if he can cut yet and he doesn’t know if he can cut yet. We’ll see.
Edwards-Helaire’s 1,290 yards on the ground this season are second in the SEC and 17th nationally. His 16 rushing touchdowns are tops in the conference as well.
If Edwards-Helaire is unable to go, the running game load against the Sooners would likely fall into the laps of Tyrion Davis-Price and John Emery. Davis-Price is third on the team with 270 yards, while Emery’s 182 are fourth. Davis-Price’s six rushing touchdowns are second on the Tigers.
Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Joe Burrow, incidentally, is second on the team in rushing with 289 yards.