By ANDRE CHAMPAGNE, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
If LSU starting running back Caden Durham’s ankle injury suffered Saturday night in the 56-10 win over Southeastern Louisiana keeps him out of the Ole Miss game Saturday, the Tigers have an understudy ready.
Sophomore Ju’Juan Johnson led the No. 3 Tigers (4-0, 1-0 SEC) with 43 yards on eight carries with touchdown runs of 10 and 2 yards, and he caught a 14-yard pass.
LSU plays at No. 13 Ole Miss (4-0, 2-0 SEC) on Saturday (2:30 p.m., ABC) and is coming off a season-high rushing night of 135 yards on 35 carries.
“He sees the game very well,” LSU coach Brian Kelly said of the quarterback at Lafayette Christian Academy. “I believe his natural instincts took over at running back. We are very impressed with the way he played. We knew that about him coming out of high school in terms of what he can do, and we saw a glimpse of that tonight.”
Garrett Nussmeier preps well for Ole Miss in win over Southeastern La.https://t.co/HuXY3bwTpe
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) September 21, 2025
Johnson had a career high in rush attempts with eight.
“With getting the ball in my hand, just every time I got it, I felt more and more like I should have it, and it just gave me a boost,” he said. “The coaches already had showed that confidence in me to give me the ball and go make a play, so it gives me confidence to go out there and just play my game.”
On Johnson’s 10-yard TD, he broke two tackles on an inside run, then cut it outside.
“Just breaking tackles, making the first guy miss,” he said. “We harp on that a lot in the running back room – make the first guy miss and deal with the rest.”
It was only FCS Southeastern Louisiana, which was a 39-point underdog. But Johnson and his teammates still loved the 56 points.
“Just seeing us score that many points will definitely give us that confidence going into the future,” he said. “I think the more that we get better as the season goes, we’ll have a more diverse offense.”
Be the first to comment