Tyrion Davis-Price committed to the Tigers before his senior season, and through much of his time as an LSU pledge, he was set to be the only running back in that class. But being the feature back in an offense wasn’t Davis-Price’s goal: He wanted to win. So, when the opportunity presented itself, he let Louisiana’s other top running back recruit know he wanted to be teammates in Baton Rouge.
“He let me know that we were going to be that 1-2 punch and it was going to the great,” LSU freshman running back John Emery said. “When he hit me it up, it was kind of late in my recruiting process… once he told me that, I kind of figured it was going to be me and him.”
When he had a chance this week to reflect on that conversation with Emery, Davis-Price explained that he wanted the best players on his team because his goals weren’t just to put up big numbers.
“I wanted to win a national championship and I wanted to continue to do that,” he said. “We’re on the road to do that. So I know John’s a great player and you can’t do it by yourself. Not in this league. And I knew he’d be a great person to share the load with.”
If Clyde Edwards-Helaire is unable to play in Saturday’s College Football Playoff Semifinal, the two freshmen running backs, along with redshirt freshman Chris Curry, could be sharing the load against the No. 4 Sooners.
“Clyde does it all. Now, we've got three backs that are strong in each one of those areas, so we're going to have to use them,” Orgeron said of the hypothetical situation of Edwards-Helaire being out. “Tyrion, John Emery, and Chris Curry. You can expect all three of those backs to play in different situations.”
Orgeron and the Tigers staff said they were confident in the young backs, as they’ve demonstrated the ability to make plays when given the ball this season.
Davis-Price emerged as the Tigers’ main backup to Edwards-Helaire tallying 270 yards and six rushing scores, while Emery scored three times and averaged 5.1 yards per carry.
Davis-Price said he was blessed to be going into games second after Edwards-Helaire, but said his goal is to make sure he give the coaches a reason to put him in.
LSU center Lloyd Cushenberry said the O-line has confidence in all of the freshmen running backs but particularly praised Davis-Price for his consistency.
“With Ty, he’s done a great job with ball security and just running hard,” Cushenberry said. “That’s all (LSU running backs coach Tommie Robinson) asks of those guys is to protect the ball and run hard.”
Whatever touches the young running backs receive on Saturday, they’ll have the benefit of a lot of knowledge imparted on them by Edwards-Helaire.
Both Davis-Price and Emery said the junior has been very helpful in their development.
“He’s been the most helpful actually,” Davis-Price said. “No matter what it is. If we don’t understand something he makes sure that he breaks it down properly for us. He might break it down differently for Chris. He might break it down differently for John. He knows how we will see it better… He’s a great coach also.”
Emery said he wasn’t surprised Edwards-Helaire was so helpful as the former prep star was very welcoming from the beginning; but he was slightly caught off guard by how much knowledge Edwards-Helaire had to share.
“I didn’t know he was that much of a student of the game,” Emery said. “Just situations, reading the defenses, knowing where the play’s gonna hit, different techniques we should be doing, really everything. Clyde is a very smart football player.”
Of the running backs Cushenberry said the Tigers’ offensive line is more concerned with making plays against Oklahoma’s front for whoever is in the backfield:
“It doesn't really matter who's in there. Up front we've got to do our job, so those guys can make plays. We've got to control the guys up front so they can do what they do.”
Davis-Price said he’s just happy his team is playing in a game with such big stakes, just as he and Emery talked about:
“This opportunity man…everyone doesn’t get this you know to be able to be on this historical team, my freshman year it means a lot.”
