On a bum ankle, Leonard Fournette’s first game without Les Miles, the coach who gave him a scholarship, was unlike anything he’s done before.
When Fournette made his return in LSU’s 38-21 win against Ole Miss, he made a statement: a single-game, program-high 284 rushing yards, eclipsing Alley Broussard’s 250 yards in 2004 against the Rebels.
In his first game under LSU coach Ed Orgeron, Fournette was still recovering from a high and low ankle sprain and a bone bruise, he revealed Saturday night.
After sitting out for three weeks, Fournette said he gained weight and would call for junior running back Darrel Williams to relieve him every other play to catch his breath.
“I was telling Darrel ‘Come get in the game,’” Fournette said.
To Orgeron, he still looked like college football’s best player.
“I’ve never been a part of a player like Leonard, to be honest with you,” Orgeron said. “He’s dynamic. I believe he’s the best player in the country.”
And to think, everyone wanted LSU’s junior tailback to sit out his junior season, he said. But he didn’t.
Fournette loves football too much to follow the narrative of sitting out his junior season, engraving his spot as a top selection in 2017’s NFL Draft.
“Man, when I tell you that was one of the hardest things of my life,” Fournette said. “It was hard for me, especially when everybody wanted me to sit out. I could have, but when you really love football, it’s not about sitting out. I love going out there with guys like Jamal Adams. When I was hurt on the sidelines watching practice, I said, ‘I got to get better.’”
For three weeks, Fournette watched on the sideline as LSU’s offense posted records in the Tigers two blowout wins. First against Missouri, 42-7, and a second time against Southern Miss 45-10 — in which LSU piled on a combined 601 yards of rushing offense.
LSU’s proficiency on the ground through the two games made matters tougher for Fournette, who knew his skills could be showcased in the victories.
“It was very hard, especially by the offense putting up so many points and knowing what I can do to contribute to help the team out,” Fournette said.
While Fournette couldn’t practice or play with his teammates, he spent his free time in the gym working out and rehabbing the ankle he injured in LSU’s fall camp and re-injured against Auburn Sept. 24, he said.
Fournette then lended a hand to running back coach Jabbar Juluke as a self-converted running backs coach, aiding sophomore running back Derrius Guice lock down pass protection schemes and help prepare him for his starts.
Guice filled Fournette’s role rushing for 486 yards and six touchdowns in the three games he started in place of Fournette — meriting comparisons between the two shifty and strong, big-play, able-bodied tailbacks.
And that made Fournette angry.
“The only thing that made me mad was when people try to compare me and Guice,” Fournette said. “Guice is a great back. With any team he would be doing the same thing he’s doing now. That’s my little brother. I hated that, and I don’t want any competition between us or nobody on the team. I treat everybody equal and they treat me equal.”
During it all, Fournette said he received a text message from his mother that told him to keep his faith and not worry about his injury.
Next up for LSU is a bye week, which Fournette said should give him time to rest before LSU’s scheduled matchup against No.1 Alabama Nov. 5.
“Our confidence is high,” Fournette said.