UPDATE: So ignore everything below:

#LSU RB Derrius Guice will - WILL - play against Syracuse. This will be updated. https://t.co/0GEE2a11QO — Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) September 21, 2017

So if the goal was to confuse Syracuse, sure, I think LSU succeeded. Except the strategy was always to stop the run and force LSU into something resembling a passing attack. Guice will make this more difficult, but he’s obviously not at 100%.

*** ORIGINAL ARTICLE***

In order for even the possibility of a Syracuse Orange upset to come into play on Saturday night, the LSU Tigers would need to have some bad luck fall their way. It fell on Wednesday night when DA COACHO (Head Coach Ed Orgeron) announced that running back Derrius Guice will miss the contest versus the Orange.

Orgeron on Guice: "He will not play this week, but he is getting better."



So, no Derrius Guice for #LSU — Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) September 21, 2017

This is a big loss for LSU. In the preview Q&A with And the Valley Shook, the Tigers’ game plan is probably going to involve a healthy dose of running the ball early and often. Losing a kid averaging 5.3 yards per carry and coming off a 1,000 yard season is probably going to tweak that plan just a bit.

LSU will more than likely hand the bulk of the work off to Senior running back Darrel Williams, who’s carried the ball 28 times so far, averaging 5.7 yards per carry with 4 touchdowns. (This is the moment you see that some schools just get to replace stars with really really talented players.)

Regardless, this is something that definitely tilts the scales slightly back towards Syracuse’s direction, even if LSU is still the definite favorite in the Quaid Bowl.