LSU Football: 5 reasons why Tigers will win the 2017 national title

1. Dominance of Derrius Guice

Remember Leonard Fournette? He was one of the best running backs in recent college football memory. Well, he was overshadowed, just a bit, by his backup in 2016.

In fact, Fournette missed some time with an injury last season and Derrius Guice was there to pick up the slack. No one really expected the No. 2 back to put up monster numbers as a sophomore, but that’s just what he did. In fact, he led the team in rushing last season by a wide margin.

Fournette finished with 843 yards and eight scores on 6.5 yards per touch while Guice made a name for himself, accounting for 1,387 yards and 15 touchdowns. Oh yeah, and he averaged 7.6 yards per carry. He took the college football world by storm.

Not often can an All-American running back go down with an injury and the team is still able to maintain that same production on the ground. That type of dominance is what makes his potential 2,000-yard 2017 season even more intriguing. What can he do with 100 more carries, or more?

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If Etling improves yet again under center and Guice maintains a 7.6 yards per carry average with 100-plus more carries, the Tiger offense will be tough to shut down while the defense continues to dominate.