UPDATED: Sept. 20, 2017 at 1:16 a.m.

No. 25 Louisiana State star running back Derrius Guice has been ruled out for Saturday’s game against Syracuse, Tigers head coach Ed Orgeron said Wednesday night on his radio show.

“He will not play this week,” Orgeron said, “but he is getting better.”

Wednesday morning on the SEC coaches teleconference, Orgeron said he was unsure whether Guice would play.

Guice sat out practice Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, recovering from what Orgeron said Monday is a “minor injury,” according to Nola.com. Guice missed the last quarter and a half of LSU’s loss against Mississippi State. The junior took 15 carries for 76 yards last week and has 57 rushes for 300 yards and four touchdowns this season.

Orgeron’s best player is Guice, whom a college football coach told Sports Illustrated “might be a better back than Leonard Fournette,” because he’s “harder to tackle because he runs with so much juice guys can’t corral him.”

“He’s a very, very talented back,” SU head coach Dino Babers said Monday. “I think he’s different from the starter last year. I think he’s more complete. I think he can catch passes, I think he can run, and he’s tough between the tackles. He’s one of those guys that gets six, eight, 10, then he goes for 20, then he goes for 40. He’s going to be very difficult to stop.”

Senior Darrel Williams has taken the second-most snaps on the LSU roster. He has one start this year, 28 carries for 159 yards and four rushing touchdowns.

On the ACC coaches teleconference call, Syracuse coach Dino Babers said he thought his team will see Guice dressed out on Saturday.

“That guy is a competitor,” Babers said, “I’m sure he’s going to be out there.”

Regardless, Syracuse will not have to face one of the top tailbacks in the country, the same way it did in the SU-LSU matchup two years ago. Tigers running back and 2017 NFL Draft No. 4 overall pick Leonard Fournette ran for two touchdowns and 244 yards in a 34-24 win at the Carrier Dome.

Syracuse is 1-2 all-time against the Tigers, its lone win coming at the 1989 Hall of Fame Bowl in Tampa, Florida, a 23-10 victory. Syracuse lost the teams’ first meeting, in New Orleans, 10-13 in  the 1964 season and lost the teams’ last meeting, 2015, 34-24 at the Dome.

Game time is scheduled Saturday for 7 p.m. from Death Valley on ESPN2.

Additional notes from the ACC and SEC teleconferences:

• Babers on LSU OC Matt Canada, who served the same role at Pittsburgh last season, a 76-61 SU loss: “What we saw, we couldn’t stop at Pitt. In a sense, he’s more dangerous than he’s ever been.”
• On whether freshman running back Markenzy Pierre, who fumbled on his second carry last week, will get early snaps: “Ball security is job security in our program.”
• Orgeron on Syracuse: “I think they have a great scheme. His offensive scheme is very hard to defend. They have the right QB and are playing better defense.”

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this post, Markenzy Pierre was misnamed. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

Published on September 20, 2017 at 11:57 am

Contact Matthew: mguti100@syr.edu | @MatthewGut21