Lane Kiffin isn’t interested in giving running backs carries just to keep everybody happy, and he made that plain during his Sunday Zoom call.
That philosophy has directly shaped LSU’s backfield, where Wisconsin transfer Dilin Jones has become the featured option while Caden Durham and Harlem Berry have seen their roles shrink. Jones has taken the bulk of the workload and has answered with 657 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 149 carries, production that ranks fourth in the SEC in rushing yards.
Durham and Berry were among the staff’s priorities when Kiffin arrived, and they were the team’s most productive backs a year ago. Durham ran for 505 yards and three touchdowns on 111 carries last season, while Berry put up 491 yards and two touchdowns on 104 carries.
This year, though, the touches have gone in a different direction. Durham has just 12 carries for 36 yards, while Berry has 32 carries for 202 yards and one touchdown.
Kiffin said the approach comes down to competition, not rotation for rotation’s sake.
"We talked a lot when we got here about competition, and we don't just rotate just to rotate," Kiffin said.
He was even more direct when explaining why he doesn’t believe in handing out snaps like a reward.
"I call them participation awards, because you're the second, third guy; you just go in just to go in? I just don't believe in that.
I know other people do. What was done here for a while, and I'm not criticizing.
I just don't believe in that."
Kiffin compared it to a hot shooter in basketball, saying the ball keeps finding the player who’s rolling.
"When you have a player shooting really well and hot, do you just pass it to everybody equally? No, you keep giving them the ball."
Even with fewer opportunities, Kiffin said Durham and Berry have responded the right way.
"The guys' attitude has been great," Kiffin said. "I really enjoy how much they've competed and how hard they've tried when they've gone in there."
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It also gives the matchup a little extra weight beyond the usual stakes. This will be the final annual meeting before the SECs revised scheduling rotation interrupts the series, and LSU and Alabama will not be back in Baton Rouge together until at least 2030. For a fan base that expected one more true primetime version of this game, the television slot landed like a letdown. [Read more 🡒]