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Five-Star LSU Football Freshman Eyeing Opportunity for More Playing Time

Originally posted on LSU Tigers on SI | By Zack Nagy | Last updated Oct 1, 2025 5:42 PM ET

Brian Kelly and the LSU Tigers continue searching for the right recipe on offense after a slow start to the 2025 season through five games.

No. 13 LSU has struggled to play complementary football across the first half of the season with the defense doing the heavy lifting in Baton Rouge.

“Disappointed in the loss, certainly,” LSU head coach Brian Kelly said on Saturday. “There is a game within the game. You start with the first half, where our inability to sustain anything on the offensive side of the ball put our defense on the field for 50 plays.

“At the end of the day, when you put it all together for four quarters, we didn’t play complementary football, which you have to do in this league. You have to be able to complement your offense and defense. When our offense started to move the ball, our defense couldn’t get the stop.”

LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier has remained at the forefront of the conversation, but the redshirt-senior's struggles are only one piece of the problem.

From struggles in the run-game to inconsistency in the trenches, it's been an abysmal start for the Bayou Bengals.

LSU has given up 26.0 tackles for loss across five games to open the season - that places LSU at No. 91 in America in that category.

There have been a myriad of issues along the offensive line, but the Tigers may have found a bright spot at right tackle.

LSU starting right tackle Weston Davis is the program's lowest-rated starter on offense with a PFF grade of 40.8 on nearly 260 snaps.

Davis has the lowest pass block grade (52.2) and the lowest run block grade (41.5) among the starters on the offensive line.

On Saturday against the Ole Miss Rebels, Davis suffered an injury during pregame warmups where the LSU coaching staff rolled with five-star true freshman Carius Curne as the starting right tackle on the road.

Though the five-star's first start wassn’t perfect (58.2 PFF Grade), Curne’s passing blocking grade of 80.3 PFF on 41 pass blocking reps showed promise - and is far better than the product that Davis has put on. the field.

LSU head coach Brian Kelly has raved about Curne and what he can provide the program long-term.

"He's an exceptional physical specimen, but we have to be able to turn that into a technically sound offensive lineman, and he's made really good progress. I think we all know that I'm willing to play freshmen at that position. We did it in 2022," Kelly said this.

"It's just really difficult when you're asking somebody to go in and play a position at this level for the first time; there's going to be a learning curve. I like what he's doing. I like the maturity that he's showing, and the consistency.

"I still think you're going to see him playing in some capacity, and he's got to be prepared to do so."

Will Curne earn more playing time in 2025 after a solid first start in a Top-15 showdown at Ole Miss? Time will tell on this.

LSU will return to action on Oct. 11 against a LaNorris Sellers led South Carolina Gamecocks for a night game in Tiger Stadium.

This article first appeared on LSU Tigers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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