LSU at Auburn: Will Orgeron use committee of backs or will QB TJ Finley take another step?

BATON ROUGE — College football coaches tend to say it a lot in August.

 "We'll be tailback by committee," they say.

It is almost never true. Usually, a premier back surfaces — sometimes from the outset, sometimes a little later.

LSU has not had a true committee at tailback since 2011 when Spencer Ware carried 177 times for 707 yards and eight touchdowns, Michael Ford rushed 127 times for 756 yards and seven touchdowns, Alfred Blue added 78 rushes for 539 yards and seven touchdowns, and Kenny Hilliard carried 62 times for 336 yards and eight touchdowns.

So far in the 2020 season, LSU has a committee of sophomore tailbacks with Tyrion (pronounced TIE-REE-AHN) Davis-Price of Southern Lab in Baton Rouge, John Emery Jr. of Destrehan High near New Orleans, and Chris Curry of Lehigh High in Lehigh Acres, Florida — not necessarily in that order all the time.

LSU, which is 2-2 and has improved from No. 13 to No. 6 in the weekly SEC power rankings after a 52-24 win over South Carolina last week, plays at Auburn (3-2) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday on CBS. And it may be wise for Auburn to prepare for all three backs.

"The big thing is that they were able to run the football successfully," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said of LSU's last game.

Malzahn was not as caught up as some in the sometimes spectacular debut of true freshman quarterback TJ Finley, who is likely to start for the second straight Saturday as No. 1 quarterback Myles Brennan is questionable for the game with an abdomen tear.

"I don't believe that he's going to play, but things could change toward the end of the week," LSU coach Ed Orgeron said Wednesday.

"They ran the football, and he (Finley) made some good throws in tight coverage," Malzahn said.

Finley completed 17 of 21 passes for 265 yards in and around a season-high 54 rushes for LSU for a season-high 276 yards. The Tigers entered the game averaging just 30 rushes for 96 yards a game. 

Then the committee took over. Davis-Price carried 22 times for 135 yards and a touchdown. Emery rushed 18 times for 88 yards and a touchdown. Curry just got three rushes for 11 yards, but he was the original starter this season.

"I knew coming in here that we often spawn talented backs," a frustrated South Carolina coach Will Muschamp said after the game. "I was concerned about stopping the run. We did not play the run very well at all."

Curry won the No. 1 tailback job for the season opener and gained 47 yards on nine carries. Davis-Price led the way with 11 carries for 43 yards, and Emery had 27 yards on seven rushes.

Curry sat out game two at Vanderbilt game with an injury. Davis-Price started, but it was Emery who stole the show with 12 carries for 103 yards and a touchdown. Davis-Price added 29 yards on eight rushes.

At Missouri in week three, Curry returned to the starting lineup, but he gained just six yards on five carries. Davis-Price led the way with 38 yards on nine rushes, and Emery took a backseat with two rushes for seven yards.

On Saturday against South Carolina, LSU started its third tailback in four games in Emery, and he and Davis-Price shared the spotlight with Curry in the background. 

On the season, Davis-Price leads LSU in rushing with 245 yards on 50 carries for a 4.9-yard average with two touchdowns. Emery is next at 225 yards on 39 carries for a 5.8-yard average and two touchdowns. Curry in three games has 64 yards on 17 carries for  a 3.8-yard average. 

Who knows which one will be the star attraction Saturday?

"I like going with the hot hand," Orgeron said. "We'll see how it goes."

How it goes in practice also tends to have an impact on running backs coach Kevin Faulk handling of playing time in the game.

"We're all real competitive with each other," Davis-Price said Tuesday. "One guy gets hot, and he might get the most carries. That's best for the team at the time. We just compete, compete, compete. We're making each other better, because we all want to see each other make it to the next level."

Orgeron has said all along that a strength of his offense is his running backs.

"Ty, I'm so glad to see him have success," he said. "He's a big, strong, agile running back. John Emery has been one of the best backs in the country. He and Ty work well together."

At the moment, Curry is in the background. But that could change. It did for Emery.

"John Emery showed up," Orgeron said after the South Carolina game. "Tyrion ran well. I think Steve Ensminger (offensive coordinator) did a better job with our running game."

They combined for 223 yards. Chances are, Auburn will see a lot of Emery and Davis-Price. LSU is a three-point favorite to win, according to Bet.MGM. And LSU is picked to win by 12 of 14 SEC writers.

Auburn is just ninth in the Southeastern Conference and 65th in the nation against the run with 180.4 yards allowed a game. 

"We're a great dynamic duo. I feel like we complement each other really well. We're ready to just keep it going, keep it rolling," Davis-Price said.

"All the running backs motivate each other," Emery said. "We know we have the abilities. We just have to show what we have."

Ensminger, though, could decide to let Finley go after he played so well in his debut, and thus put the tailback committee in the background, at least for a week.

"The thing I was most impressed with was his poise," Orgeron said of Finley. "He looked so confident. Made some great decisions. TJ's got a cannon for an arm. He escaped some pressure. His presence on the field is what I was most impressed with."

Finley's 21 pass attempts were only half of Brennan's average total in the Tigers' first three games as Brennan put it up 131 times, or 43 a game. Finley could take more than baby steps at Auburn, which is sixth in the SEC and No. 57 in the nation in pass defense efficiency with a 139.1 rating and eight touchdowns allowed against four interceptions. 

"He can do better actually now I think since he got his feet hot," Davis-Price said. "He is real comfortable back there. He doesn't panic. He did a lot of studying. He's made for the moment. He's made for big moments."

And Ensminger and pass game coordinator Scott Linehan can now expand the playbook for such moments.

"We can do more things in the offense now that we've seen his poise," Orgeron said. "And now Steve (Ensminger) knows that he can take it to another step. I think you'll see a couple of different wrinkles that we didn't want to put in the first game just to make sure the game plan was simple for him."