By KACE KIESCHNICK, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
Star LSU tight end Trey’Dez Green made a loud return on a limited snap count in the Tigers’ 38-17 win at Auburn on Saturday. LSU’s offensive No. 7 made five catches for 50 yards with a touchdown in his first game back on the field since suffering a knee injury on Sept. 19 at Ole Miss.
“I think as much as the play of him, it’s the feeling,” coach Lane Kiffin said. “You just feel different when he’s there. It’s why I was so in the tank when Dashawn (Spears), and the two sevens went do (linebacker Whit Weeks, another No. 7), because they’re impactful players. It’s kind of like you feel like you’re going fishing with really good bait and tackle when they walk in.”
Green’s sidelining to a knee injury was a pivotal moment not just in the loss to the Rebels, but in the Tigers’ young season. In Oxford, Mississippi, he was the team’s leading receiver with four catches for 60 when he was hurt early in the fourth quarter as LSU mounted a comeback. LSU was forced to settle for a field goal to tie the game after he exited and missed him dearly in the game’s final moments as the Tigers could not find the end zone from six yards out – Green’s specialty – and lost 32-24.
As much as his absence hurt in the moment, the sting worsened as the dust settled and the realization hit that the Tigers would be without one of their offensive leaders and top playmakers – their No. 7 – for several weeks as the Southeastern Conference slate got underway. Not only would they miss him, but they also lost star position player Dashawn Spears, one of the team’s most versatile defenders, for the remainder of the season to a knee injury.
Positional switches from safety Ty Benefield to star and wide receiver Roman Mothershed to tight end have helped LSU navigate those losses, but the injury news just got worse the following week against Texas A&M when linebacker Whit Weeks fractured his fibula. The game against the Aggies was a much different story than the one against the Rebels, but Week’s injury and others brought a cloud of dread that hung over a dominant, 35-6 SEC win.
The Tigers went 2-1 with both No. 7’s sidelined, although that one tight loss at Kentucky, 35-34, in overtime may have had another ending had LSU been at full force. Green was able to make his return ahead of the speculated Alabama game target date on Nov. 7, and while Weeks is still sidelined, he was able to travel with the team for the first time since his injury. And he has a chance to be ready for Alabama.
“Those guys are the heartbeat of this team, and so to have them out there, it just feels amazing because they both just would do anything for their team,” Kiffin said of his No. 7s.
Kiffin said Weeks is targeting a return against Alabama and that he told the team before they took the field at Jordan-Hare Stadium that he was doing everything he could to rehab and get back on the field with them as soon as possible.
On the field, Green showed exactly why Kiffin was so downtrodden when he was hurt. He played just 49 snaps, 20 less than what he averaged before his injury. But he seamlessly resumed his role in the offense. He was a reliable target for quarterback Sam Leavitt and a physical blocker in the run and pass game. The Tigers made it a point to get him involved early, targeting him on their first offensive snap of the game. That pass attempt fell incomplete, but it did not stop Leavitt from throwing his way eight total times, the second most of any Tiger behind wideout Jackson Harris with 14.
Even when Green was not getting the ball, his presence alone helped open up the offense for others. Teams have to account for an athletic 6-foot-7, 242-pound tight end, and there is not a defense in the country that has an answer for him one-on-one.
When he did get the ball in his hands, it was often in pivotal moments. He helped convert a fourth-and-two on the Tigers’ first drive of the second quarter. On the same drive, LSU faced a third-and-6 from the Auburn 15-yard line. Green made a five-yard catch just shy of the line to gain and did not settle for the first, powering 10 yards into the end zone despite four swarming defenders. Of Green’s five catches, two went for first downs and one was a touchdown.
One No. 7 is back, and one to go.
Be the first to comment