LSU LB Harold Perkins suffers season-ending injury
LSU came away with a 34-17 win over UCLA on Saturday, but the Week 4 matchup with the Bruins brought with it more unfortunate injury news.
Starting linebacker Harold Perkins, who was awarded the No. 7 jersey ahead of his junior season this fall, is expected to miss the rest of the 2024 season with a knee injury, per multiple reports.
Perkins left the game after lowering his shoulder to make a tackle against UCLA, then remained on the field with the medical staff before walking to the locker room under his own power.
Following the game, Tigers head coach Brian Kelly said Perkins will have to undergo some tests over the next two days to determine the severity of his injury, though Kelly confirmed it was a knee injury. With reports of a season-ending injury, LSU and defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Blake Baker will have to move forward without the services of Perkins.
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Perkins started all four games across LSU’s 3-1 start, totaling 17 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and – likely – ending the year without a sack or turnover forced. One year ago, Perkins started all 13 games at linebacker, leading the Tigers in tackles for loss for a second consecutive year (13 total). He closed out the 13-game schedule with 75 tackles and 5.5 sacks, which landed him Second-Team All-SEC honors from the league’s coaches.
Now, LSU will have to move forward with a pair of linebackers who have also landed starts across the first four games in veteran Greg Penn III and sophomore Whit Weeks. The Tigers will get linebacker West Weeks back from injury, which is good news for depth purposes.
Perkins left high school in Houston ranked as a 5-star and the nation’s No. 1 linebacker prospect in the 2022 class.
