After a game in which his offense put up 701 yards and his quarterback did something no one else in FBS history has done by passing for 350 yards and rushing for 200, head coach Brian Kelly opened his post-game presser by talking about two backup running backs.
“I’d like to start with Noah Cain, you know,” Kelly said. “Noah Cain, Josh Williams coming in.”
A few reporters chuckled, thinking he was joking.
He wasn’t.
He talked at length about the value of the running backs’ contributions before mentioning quarterback Jayden Daniels’ historic day.
Kelly spent the week emphasizing that he needed to see an elite performance, and he got just that from Daniels against Florida. In a season of unbelievable performances, Daniels topped them all.
Kelly gave him his flowers, but he knows there’s more to being an elite program.
Starting running back Logan Diggs was out for Saturday’s game due to an upper body injury, meaning backups Josh Williams and Noah Cain were thrust into a bigger role.
In addition, John Emery Jr. suffered a knee injury early in the game, compounding the issue for a suddenly thin running back room.
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Both Williams and Cain started this season expecting to be heavily involved in the offense. A former walk-on, Williams was the starter last year and put up 532 yards and six touchdowns, while Cain had 409 yards and 10 touchdowns for the Tigers after transferring from Penn State.
Diggs’ emergence, though, turned the running back room into more or less a rotation of one.
Regardless, Williams and Cain were ready when needed for LSU. Williams ran for two touchdowns in the game against Florida and Cain caught another.
“You want your players to model themselves after the right people, in terms of the world that we live in today with NIL and the transfer portal,” Kelly said. “Here’s two guys that haven’t played much at all, and all they’ve done is been great teammates.”
“When you make a commitment to guys that you’re battling with, day in, day out, you got to be ready for whatever the role is,” Cain said. “It’s all about being selfless.”
Williams and Cain did the gritty work, too, blocking expertly for Daniels and the LSU offense, including an insurance touchdown by Brian Thomas Jr. where Williams had a crucial block.
“I feel like blocking as a running back doesn’t really get recognized as much as it should,” Williams said. “You put so much time and effort in practice and you finally get a good, perfect block like that, all your emotions are flowing. It just felt great.”
Those kinds of under-the-radar contributions, Kelly said, are the ones that take a program from good to great. As unstoppable as Daniels and the LSU offense were against Florida, the team-wide buy-in seen from Williams and Cain are what Kelly values, what he was looking for when he asked his team to be elite.
Kelly saw the same from his often-maligned defense in the win. The unit by no means had a good day, giving up 35 points and 488 yards, but it made a handful of important plays.
In the first half of what became a historic game, LSU’s offense struggled to an extent. The Tigers settled for a field goal on one red zone possession and were stuffed on fourth and goal on another. They punted once and turned the ball over on downs after questionable play calls on third and fourth down.
LSU entered the half with 17 points through six drives. A sputtering start like that would typically be a death sentence given the ease with which the LSU defense normally cedes points to opponents.
Instead, the defense had held Florida to 14 points. Led by an active front seven, it came up with three sacks, forced a fumble and made the Gators punt twice. The defense kept LSU afloat despite a tame first half offensively, allowing for an explosive second half.
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The defensive success wasn’t sustained, with Florida scoring three second half touchdowns. Still, the unit stopped Florida on fourth down on both of its final two drives and also produced two three-and-outs in the second half.
“We told them on the sideline, we just need a few stops, and we got the big stop,” Kelly said.
It wasn’t a perfect performance. The defenders had difficulty tackling in space and allowed Florida quarterback Graham Mertz to complete a few deep passes, something he hasn’t done much of this season. Florida also had one of its best days on the ground of the year, with 177 rushing yards and four touchdowns.
Even so, the defense fought, and that’s what Kelly wanted to see.
Saturday was flashy, from the sideline Heisman poses to the nine plays of more than 35 yards.
Kelly’s quick to let you know that flashy isn’t what wins championships. In order to build sustainable success, he wants to highlight and reward the unappreciated efforts.
“We’re building a program,” he said.
Everyone expected the discussion of LSU’s performance against Florida to begin and end with Daniels. Kelly subverted expectations, and in doing so, redefined what he’s looking for as the program tries to bridge the gap from good to elite.
