LSU’s Best Offensive Weapon Against Florida May Have Been The Punter? Really?

By ANDRE CHAMPAGNE, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter

LSU may be struggling on offense this season with starting quarterback Garrett Nussmeier suffering from an abdomen injury, but it unveiled a secret weapon Saturday night against Florida – transfer punter Grant Chadwick.

On a night when LSU scored one offensive touchdown and relied on stellar defense in a 20-10 win, Chadwick made sure he kept the Tigers’ defense in excellent field position, which often led to good starting field position for the offense.

“Grant Chadwick was outstanding,” LSU coach Brian Kelly said. “We flipped field position. He was our weapon on offense, and that’s how we needed to win the game.”

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Chadwick punted a season-high seven times against Florida for a whopping 50.4-yard average. Four times Florida started inside its 20-yard line – at the 2-yard line, at the 6 following a 3-yard return, at the 14 and and at the 15. A fifth Chadwick punt started the Gators at their 21.

“It’s like a flow state you know, like a free throw,” Chadwick explained. “Once you see it leave your foot a few times and it’s good, I’m just visualizing the next one’s just going to be even better. I’d say overall, it’s probably my best game so far in my college career. To be able to do that in this environment compared to last year is big for me.”

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Chadwick, a native of Tullahoma, Tennessee, punted the ball 51 times last season at Middle Tennessee as a freshman with an average of 43.4 yards. He didn’t see himself punting seven times in a game this season for LSU, which has fielded some of the nation’s best offenses in 2023 and ’24.

“I punted a lot more last year than I anticipated punting this year, but I’ve definitely had that feeling before,” he said. “So, it kind of hit close to home. It was a familiar feeling out there, and it was just like the flow that took over. And I was ready to go every drive.”

He punted seven times in his two previous LSU games combined, but he had an inkling he could play a pivotal role in a game featuring two strong defenses, because Nussmeier told him so.

“The week at practice actually, he came up to me and said, ‘Be ready to make an impact this weekend.’ And I was ready. I tell Nuss before every game to keep me off the field, but you know I have his back if he can’t do that.”

And Chadwick knows the LSU defense has its offense’s back.

“When we pin you inside the ten, you know that they’re going to have them punt from their own territory, and it’s a field position battle all night,” he said.

Chadwick’s best punt of the night came at the end of the third quarter when he boomed it 58 yards to the Florida 2-yard line. And LSU wide receiver Chris Hilton Jr.’s speed allowed him to down the ball right there, and Florida soon punted.

“We’ve actually made big steps in the sky punt specifically,” Chadwick said. “We’ve changed our personnel. We put receivers out there to get down the field faster and be ready to catch it. Pinning a team deep inside their own five or ten is a huge deal.”

It’s all part of LSU’s move to Old School football for the moment.