The LSU offense needs to have its best outing of the 2025 season on Saturday against Ole Miss. Despite holding a 4-0 record and a No. 4 ranking in the AP Top 25 Poll, it's been the LSU defense that has willed the Tigers to wins early on in 2025. Against teams not named Southeastern Louisiana, LSU has averaged just 20 points per game so far this season.
Garrett Nussmeier has been dealing with a torso injury, but hopefully he is close to being back to 100%. No matter how Nussmeier is feeling, he is going to need the LSU running game to be clicking to give the Tiger offense a more balanced approach against the Rebels.
Caden Durham's availability still up in the air
Brian Kelly says that RB1 Caden Durham is trending in the right direction, but that his status for the Ole Miss game won't be determined until Saturday. Kelly says that the sophomore RB will be a game-time decision. Durham suffered an ankle injury in last week's contest against Southeastern Louisiana. Before the injury, he ran for 17 yards on seven carries.
Brian Kelly said LSU RB Caden Durham will be a game-time decision: “He’s got to be able to cut and accelerate and do things. He was better today, and quite honestly, we’re going to give him right up to game time. He wants to play.”
— Wilson Alexander (@whalexander_) September 26, 2025
Durham has had an up-and-down season thus far, running for 213 yards and two touchdowns on 52 carries. He's had two games with over 6.0 yards per carry and two games with under 2.5 yards per carry. As the Tiger running game looks for some consistency, Tiger fans will keep an eye on Durham's availability leading up to Saturday's 2:30 p.m. CT kick-off.
Next man up: Dynamic playmakers can step up for LSU
Sophomore jack-of-all-trades Ju'Juan Johnson stepped up in a big way once Durham went down, rushing for 43 yards and a pair of touchdowns on eight carries against the Lions. If Durham isn't able to go, Johnson could be in line for a bigger workload. He is one of the most dynamic players in all of college football, and is capable of making an electric play every time he gets the ball. Finding creative ways to get him involved will be key for Joe Sloan's offensive game plan.
The same goes for freshman RB Harlem Berry, who is averaging 5.8 yards per carry for 87 yards on 15 carries this season. WR Zavion Thomas has also been a threat in the running game, getting 10 carries and going for 86 yards. He ran for 54 yards on six carries against Louisiana Tech in Week 2.
In last year's 29-26 overtime win against Ole Miss in Baton Rouge, Nussmeier was asked to throw the ball a whopping 51 times. He completed just 22 of those passes for a season-low completion percentage of 43.1. Simply put, it won't bode well for the Tigers if Nussmeier has to throw 50+ times again this time around. Having a more balanced attack is something that LSU has lacked so far this season, which has put the Tiger offense in tough spots. Getting the running game going is a must.
The Ole Miss offense can put up points in a hurry, and LSU needs to put together a better start offensively. Playing from behind will be tough, especially if the running game isn't firing on all cylinders. LSU's inconsistent offense has had several weeks to work out the kinks. Now is the time to put it all together.