The second half of Leonard Fournette’s record-setting season slowed a bit after a fast start that made him seem like a shoo-in for the Heisman Trophy.
The sophomore heads to 2016 as the nation’s leading rusher. He finished sixth in the Heisman voting, yet broke LSU’s single-season rushing record with 1,741 yards and 18 touchdowns in 11 games. He averaged 158.3 yards per game.
If he can duplicate that kind of season in 2016, Fournette would be fewer than 100 yards from Kevin Faulk’s school record of 4,557 yards. Given the game cancellation this past season, and the possibility that LSU could advance to the College Football Playoff, Fournette could have an additional three games more than he had in 2015. Texas Tech, LSU’s opponent in the Texas Bowl later this month, is among the nation’s worst in rush defense, so those numbers should inch a little closer to Faulk.
At this year’s pace, he would have more than 2,200 yards. That would put him in the top 15 of national career rushing leaders with about 5,000 career yards and cement his standing among armchair and barstool quarterbacks alongside Herschel Walker and Bo Jackson. Many of those career leaders played four years, so to launch himself above the likes of Ron Dayne, Tony Dorsett or Ricky Williams, Fournette needs a signature game, perhaps even in primetime on national television.
He could burst back on the national scene at Green Bay’s Lambeau Field in the season opener against Wisconsin. But to avoid a repeat of 2015, Fournette would need to have big games at Florida on Oct. 8 and home games against Ole Miss on Oct. 22 and Alabama on Nov. 5. With so many variables against him, the safe money is on Fournette only doing that in two of those league games.
Of course, Fournette’s success could depend on play-calling and how many second-half comebacks the Tigers are involved in. As it was this year, in each of LSU’s three losses, Fournette ran for fewer than 109 yards. Most notably, he had only 31 against Alabama. In fact, in LSU’s eight losses with Fournette in the lineup, the running back has rushed for fewer than 92 yards in six of them.
The variables around play-calling involve how many carries rising sophomore Derrius Guice receives, and whether QB Brandon Harris improves from a middle-of-the-pack SEC signal caller.
Numbers aside, team success is the key for Fournette to get invited to New York and have a legitimate argument to stand alongside Herschel and Bo.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
