The LSU football team has a new weapon at its disposal.
After several weeks of shaky and inconsistent play from the offensive front, the Tigers’ offensive line has found its niche. A shakeup in the offensive scheme by offensive coordinator Cam Cameron seemingly has the Tigers’ ground game rolling.
Heading into their matchup with Southeastern Conference foe Florida on Oct. 11, the Tigers were struggling to get anything going on the ground against SEC opponents. LSU had a total of 227 yards against the SEC, including a mediocre 89 yards rushing against now-No. 1-ranked Mississippi State.
The Tigers needed a shakeup to fix a floundering offensive front, and they found their fix by way of a new tight end.
It wasn’t junior Dillon Gordon or senior Travis Dickson — it was sophomore offensive lineman Jerald Hawkins.
“I get a little tight end action sometimes,” Hawkins said. “It’s really about blocking, but it felt pretty good me and [senior offensive lineman] La’el [Collins] next to each other.”
Going into the Swamp usually poses a tough, physical contest, and the way LSU had been running the ball up to that point wasn’t going to cut it against a stout Gators front seven.
So the Tigers premiered a new look against the Gators.
Cameron and offensive line coach Jeff Grimes played around with their front and lined up Hawkins in a left tight end position next to Collins, placing Gordon in Hawkins’ normal spot at right tackle.
The first run out of the new formation worked beautifully — senior running back Terrence Magee powered through the left side for an 11-yard gain.
The new look makes the Tigers bigger on the left side — Collins and Hawkins combined weigh more than 625 pounds.
“It leaves us with a little more bulk on that side — a little more overloaded side — and we can do many things out of it,” said junior offensive lineman Vadal Alexander. “We like that formation, and it’s just another formation Coach Cam [Cameron] uses to help us succeed.”
LSU coach Les Miles said the new formation gives the Tigers a numbers advantage.
“Well, it’s balance,” Miles said. “It’s the defense looking at those units of coverage that they have to use and where are they and where they’re not. We’ll lineup deceptively that way. See if we can put us in position for a pass or maybe a run that might give us the numbers advantage.”
It gave the Tigers a huge numbers advantage against the Gators, and LSU outran Florida by 72 yards en route to a 195 yard rushing day behind freshman running back Leonard Fournette’s 140 yards and two touchdowns.
The Tigers have often looked most comfortable this season running behind Hawkins, and many of their runs go to Hawkins’ normal position on the right side of the line. But Hawkins occasionally moving to the left side gives the opponent one more look to worry about.
“They looked confused, but that’s even better for us because we came right off the ball,” Hawkins said. “It’s just straight power on that side coming through.”
With Hawkins moving to that side of the field, he has to inform the referee of his eligibility as a receiver down field. And if Cameron wanted to call his number, he is no stranger to the end zone.
The former multi-sport recruit out of Class 2A West St. Mary High School had plenty of opportunities to score touchdowns during his high school career.
“I’ve been in the end zone plenty of times,” Hawkins said. “In high school, I played tight end. And at defensive end, I caught an interception and a fumble return for a touchdown, so I’ve been in there a few times.”
The position is nothing new for the sophomore if he’s needed to flashback to his high school days, but Hawkins said it’s about blocking when the Tigers line up in that formation.
“It’s pretty much all power,” Hawkins said. “[The left side] is paving a road for the running backs.”
You can reach Jack Chascin on Twitter @Chascin_TDR.
LSU offensive tackle Jerald Hawkins’ versatility paves new road for running backs
By Jack Chascin
October 21, 2014
More to Discover