LSU running back John Emery is expected to miss the rest of the season after suffering a major knee injury for the second time in as many years, multiple sources told The Advocate.
Emery suffered a torn left ACL during practice Tuesday, sources said. The injury marked another setback for the former five-star recruit and means No. 18 LSU will have to move forward without its leading rusher from the season opener.
Emery, a St. Rose native, tore his right ACL last November against Florida. He entered the transfer portal in the offseason, but he ultimately returned to LSU for his sixth season.
Emery rushed for 61 yards on 10 carries and added one catch for 10 yards in LSU’s 27-20 season-opening loss to Southern Cal.
He provided a spark on the ground for the Tigers, who otherwise struggled to consistently run the ball. Emery had 52 yards rushing on LSU’s only touchdown drive of the second half.
“He’s only going to get better coming off that knee surgery,” LSU coach Brian Kelly said before practice Tuesday.
Without Emery, LSU has three scholarship running backs: sixth-year senior Josh Williams, sophomore Kaleb Jackson and freshman Caden Durham.
Redshirt freshman Trey Holly remains suspended after he was arrested in February in relation to a shooting incident in Union Parish. Holly’s case has not been resolved.
The knee injury was the latest tough break for Emery in a career filled with them. The No. 2 running back in the 2019 class, he struggled to break out early in his career.
Emery then missed the 2021 season and the first two games of the 2022 season because he was ruled academically ineligible. Emery later graduated from LSU this spring.
Emery returned to rush for 496 yards and seven touchdowns in 18 games over the next two seasons. In the first quarter of a win against Florida last November, his right knee buckled while he tried to make a sharp cut near the end zone.
That appeared to mark the end of Emery’s LSU career. He left the team, and LSU included him in a list of players at its annual pro day.
But Emery gained another year of eligibility through an unspecified medical redshirt, Kelly later said. After entering the transfer portal, he announced in June he would return to LSU.
“I know he’s a big back and we see him as this battering ram kind of guy, but John’s got really good vision,” Kelly said.
“The thing that he needs to continue to develop is the strength in the lower body. He gets fatigued easily. As he continues to get back from that knee, he’s going to be able to take multiple carries.”
The majority of LSU’s rushing production in the first game came from Emery. Williams rushed for 33 yards on nine carries, and Jackson rushed for 18 yards on six carries. Durham, a top 100 recruit, traveled to Las Vegas but did not play.
LSU reworked its rushing attack this offseason, wanting to lean on an experienced offensive line without dual-threat quarterback Jayden Daniels. The Tigers rushed for 117 yards on 26 carries against USC, an average of 4.5 yards per rush.
But the running game was inconsistent. Even though they wanted to establish the run in the second half, the Tigers rushed for 3 yards in the fourth quarter.
“We have to be more efficient with our running game,” Kelly said. “Where I sit and what I want is, when it’s third down, and everybody knows you want to run it, let’s be creative in running the football, but let’s execute at a high level. And we didn’t execute at the level we’re capable of executing.”
After the loss to USC, Kelly said LSU needed to place the running backs in scenarios that “accentuate” their respective strengths and avoid predictable play calls, especially on short third downs.
“They’re not all inside-zone runners,” Kelly said. “They’re not all guys that run a particular play well, and I think that that’s what we’re kind of navigating now.”
But now, Emery will have to recover from another major knee injury, and LSU will have to get through the rest of the season with a thin running back room.
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