Gators Want to Gang Up on Fournette to Slow Down LSU's Heisman Hopeful
Thursday, October 15, 2015 | Football, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Outside Florida's victorious locker room last week at Memorial Stadium, Gators head coach Jim McElwain was about to wrap up his postgame press conference and board the team bus.
A final question was asked. It had nothing to do about the Gators' defensive dominance in a 21-3 win over Missouri. The topic was LSU running back Leonard Fournette, who the No. 8-ranked Gators (6-0, 4-0) will try to stop Saturday night at No. 6-ranked LSU (5-0, 3-0).
“Wow. Wow,'' McElwain uttered as he composed his thoughts. “This guy is maybe as good as to ever play the position. He's got the combination of a little bit of everything, and they run it with a purpose.”
Earlier that afternoon in Baton Rouge, in what we learned two days later was Steve Spurrier's final game as head coach at South Carolina, the 6-foot-1, 230-pound Fournette bulled over and around the Gamecocks for 158 yards on 20 carries.
Fournette broke the game open early in the second half with an 87-yard touchdown run and sat out the fourth quarter of LSU's 45-24 victory. He is the subject of a Sports Illustrated story this week due to his remarkable start and Heisman push.
Spurrier, who prior to the game said his defense had to gang tackle to have any chance at slowing down Fournette's run to the Heisman, was disgusted afterward.
“I just get frustrated watching our guys,” he said. “Their guys must have broken eight tackles on their big runs. Our guys go in there and just fall on the ground.”
The Gators will try to do what South Carolina couldn't. Or anyone else.
A sophomore from New Orleans, Fournette began to emerge on the national scene when he rushed for 140 yards and two touchdowns last season in LSU's 30-27 victory over the Gators at The Swamp. Florida defensive back Vernon Hargreaves III was introduced to Fournette's power when he had to leave the game after Fournette's right knee clubbed Hargreaves in the head on one of his 27 carries.
The 53-year-old McElwain has watched enough film on Fournette to understand what a difficult task the Gators have.
“I know I couldn't tackle him,'' he said.
Fournette leads the nation in rushing with 1,022 yards and 12 touchdowns. Fournette became the first running back in SEC history earlier this season with three consecutive 200-yard games (228 vs. Auburn; 244 vs. Syracuse; 233 vs. Eastern Michigan).
He is averaging 8.6 yards per carry and needed only five games to eclipse 1,000 yards for the season. If Fournette maintains his current pace, he would run for 2,248 yards in the regular season, which would shatter the SEC single-season record (1,891 yards) set by set by Georgia's Herschel Walker in 1981.
As the Gators try to remain undefeated and continue their climb up the national polls, stopping Fournette is task No. 1.
“He's a nasty runner,'' Florida linebacker Jarrad Davis said. “He's the best athlete in the nation. He is going to be the Heisman winner, I think, just from seeing him on film compared to everyone else. He jumps out more than anyone else I've seen.”
Fournette needs only eight yards to match his production (1,034) as a freshman. Tigers coach Les Miles said this week that Fournette is a better player than the one Florida faced a year ago.
“He sees certain cuts better than he has,” Miles said. “He's always run hard. I think he's gotten faster. I think he understands the offense more. There are a number of cuts on any play that you call, and he knows exactly where they're at.”
Fournette opened the season with a 163-yard game against Mississippi State and hasn't stopped since, taking a lot of pressure off LSU quarterback Brandon Harris. LSU leads the nation in rushing, averaging 346.4 yards per game, 115 yards more per game than Georgia, which is second in the SEC.
The Gators figure to present Fournette with his stiffest test yet. Florida ranks second in the SEC in rushing defense, surrendering just 99.2 yards per game and 3.1 yards per attempt.
Something's gotta give Saturday night at Tiger Stadium.
“This is a good matchup,'' Gators senior defensive lineman Jonathan Bullard said. “We don't want him to run through us and then everybody question if we're the best. I believe that we are the best and I think a lot of people do, too.”
Fournette remembers the Florida defense.
“They're very active. They have a lot of great players on defense that can make plays, any time, any moment,'' he said this week. “It was a physical game. Their defense looks the same as last year. They're a talented team all across the board.”
Davis, second on the team with 41 tackles behind fellow linebacker Antonio Morrison's 46, expects to meet Fournette face-to-face several times Saturday. There is no secret how to stop him.
“We know what we need to do against a back like this,'' he said. “We have to be physical at the point of contact and wrap up and get him to the ground. We've all got to get to the ball. If there is a whole bunch of guys there, I don't think he is going to be able to break out of five tackles.”
Easier said than done.
But as McElwain likes to say, the Gators plan to show up and play the game. If they can keep the damage done by Fournette to a minimum, they could add another twist to their surprising start.
“Let's face it, this running back they have — everything you read — should be celebrated because this guy is the real deal,” McElwain said. “The guy is an every-down back at the next level.”
