LSU vs. Florida State: Academic hurdles to keep RB John Emery from facing FSU in season opener

For the LSU and Florida State season opener on Sunday, the LSU Tigers are going to be without a key player, John Emery. The star running back was ruled out of the game by coach Brian Kelly, who made the announcement on Wednesday.

Emery’s absence has been conspicuous since he missed all of spring camp for academic reasons. He was a key presence for the Tigers last season, as he finished with 375 rushing yards, 129 receiving yards and eight touchdowns and played in LSU’s Citrus Bowl victory over Purdue.

In his absence, the Tigers will have to rely on Logan Diggs, Noah Cain and Josh Williams against the Seminoles. With Diggs, LSU’s carries are in capable hands. He rushed for 820 yards and four touchdowns last season on 165 attempts while playing for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Kelly is confident in Diggs' ability to deliver for the Tigers:

“He has all of the tools. He catches extremely well out of the backfield, can hit the holes as a runner and has experience at the highest level.”

LSU and Florida State are scheduled to kick off at 7:30 p.m. EST on Sunday and will be live on ABC. LSU heads into the game as the bookmakers’ favorite.

Why does John Emery keep missing season openers?

It is the third consecutive season that LSU will start the season without John Emery. Brian Kelly did not provide details of the reason for his absence on Wednesday. But Emery had missed the season openers for the past two seasons because of academic issues. He had to sit out the entire 2021 season.

Emery was projected to be high on the pecking order of running backs for LSU this season, along with Noah Cain and Josh Williams. But he missed spring practice so as to focus on his academics. However, Kelly had assured that he was going through the process of being cleared earlier in August.

Emery was unavailable for the first day of fall camp, but he joined the team the following day.

Kelly’s update on John Emery’s academic situation was that he was “in great shape,” as he was completing an internship. The coach believes Emery has done everything and described him as being fabulous to work with.