1 week Ago
LSU linebacker Harold Perkins Jr. (7) gets set to run a warmup drill before the game against Nicholls on Saturday, September 7, 2024 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save LSU star linebacker Harold Perkins is expected to miss the rest of the season after suffering a torn ACL, a source confirmed Sunday night to The Advocate.
Perkins suffered the injury in the second half of LSU's 34-17 win Saturday against UCLA while trying to make a tackle over the middle of the field. He made his way to the sideline with the help of athletic trainers, then walked slowly to the locker room. LSU coach Brian Kelly said Perkins would undergo tests to determine the severity of the injury, which confirmed the torn ACL.
CBS Sports first reported the news. One of the team's most athletic players, Perkins had recorded 17 tackles and 1 1⁄2 tackles for loss through four games. A former five-star recruit, he was a preseason All-American selection and received the No.
7 jersey, which LSU awards to its top playmaker. Perkins began the season as a weakside linebacker as LSU tried to teach him a position Kelly has said he will play at the next level. He then moved to strongside linebacker before LSU's 36-33 win over South Carolina, a switch that allowed the Tigers to play three linebackers at once.
Kelly said LSU could still run its defense if Perkins had to miss time, but it will have to adapt. "We can still stay in our buffalo package," Kelly said Saturday. "We can go back into our dime package, drop Major (Burns) down.
So, we've got a lot of options there. We hope he's OK. We hope he's back for us.
But we'll be able to move into other packages that resemble what we're doing." LSU has now lost three key players to season-ending injuries. Senior running back John Emery suffered a torn ACL in practice, and senior defensive tackle Jacobian Guillory tore his Achilles during LSU's win Sept.
7 over Nicholls..
