Notre Dame Football: Why Irish Must Establish the Running Game vs. LSU

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — University of Notre Dame quarterbacks have drawn the bulk of the attention since the end of the regular season—and rightly so. But the running backs standing next to Everett Golson and Malik Zaire in the backfield could have an equally large impact for the Irish against LSU in the Music City Bowl.

As Irish head coach Brian Kelly has said at various points throughout the season, Notre Dame must protect its defense, which is a notion all the more appropriate with a full injury report on the defensive side heading into the bowl game against the Tigers.

LSU will haul a run-happy approach into Nashville on Dec. 30, and the undermanned Irish figure to have their hands full trying to slow down Tigers star freshman running back Leonard Fournette.

Fournette has headlined a rushing attack with multiple weapons for offensive coordinator Cam Cameron. The bruising rookie has piled up 891 yards and eight touchdowns on 176 carries. Against Texas A&M on Thanksgiving weekend, Fournette rumbled to a career-high 146 yards, including this ridiculous display of the skill set that made him the No. 1 player in the country as a high school senior, according to 247Sports’ Composite Rankings.

So how can the Irish help protect a banged-up defensive front tasked with slowing the potent Tigers ground game? After all, LSU ranks 11th in the country in rushes per game with 48.58, per CFBStats.com, behind option offenses like Air Force, Georgia Tech, Navy, Army and Georgia Southern. The Tigers are also slotted 29th in the nation with 219.50 rushing yards per game, per CFBStats.com—an average buoyed by the massive 384-yard outburst LSU put together against the Aggies to close out the regular season.

“We have to do a really good job offensively of controlling the flow of the game,” Kelly said Monday. “A lot of it will be our offensive game plan and keeping their offense off the field.”

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Leaning on the running game could be a good start. Irish sophomore running back Tarean Folston emerged as the lead back throughout the season, and fellow sophomore Greg Bryant was one of the few bright spots for Notre Dame in its destruction at the hands of USC. Bryant sprinted to a career-high 79 yards on seven carries and notched his first touchdown since early-October.

“Greg’s getting a lot of work,” Kelly said Monday. “We like what he did in the game. He still wasn’t 100 percent with his ankle. … He’s got a good sense of what we’re trying to accomplish at the position in going north and south and playing physical.”

LSU has the ability to grind out yards and chew up clock on the ground. That spells trouble for a thinned Notre Dame defense, especially in the front seven.

But if Folston and Bryant can help slow the pace and aid the defense, the Irish can begin to dictate the terms of the game.

All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Mike Monaco is a lead Notre Dame writer for Bleacher Report. Follow @MikeMonaco_ on Twitter.