ATLANTA — Will he or won’t he?

That is the question looming over the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl between LSU and Oklahoma. The “he” in question is Tigers running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire who is dealing with a hamstring injury that has kept him out of practice. Edwards-Helaire was also absent from Thursday’s media session but LSU head coach Ed Orgeron said that the star running back is questionable to play in Saturday’s College Football Playoff semifinal. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m.

“He may practice a little bit today,” Orgeron said during Thursday’s Peach Bowl Media Day. “We’re not sure yet. If he is going to practice, he’s questionable for the game. I do believe that — if there’s any shot of him being cleared to play medically, that if our trainers and doctors say that he can play, I think he is going to try.”

So if Edwards-Helaire can’t dress on Saturday how will LSU deal with replacing his 1,290 rushing yards and 16 rushing touchdowns?

The duo of freshmen running backs Tyrion Davis-Price (270 yards, 6 TD) and John Emery Jr. (182 yards, 3 TD) and veteran Chris Curry (99 yards, 0 TD) will have to step up.

“We’re not going to change our offense if Clyde isn’t out there, you know,” LSU quarterback Joe Burrow said. “Our offense is our offense. And those guys will step up, and I know they will, and they work hard for it.”

“So if Clyde was not with us, we definitely have faith in Ty, John, and Chris,” wide receiver Justin Jefferson said. “So, I mean, they’re some good backs. They’re not here for a reason.

“I mean, we rely on everybody,” Jefferson added. “So if Clyde would so happen not to play, we can rely on the other backs as well.”

Even without Edwards-Helaire, LSU will still feature the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback who has thrown for 4,715 yards and 48 touchdowns, and a pair of 1,000-yard wide receivers, including the Biletnikoff Award winner Ja’Marr Chase (1,498 yards, 18 TD).

LSU’s offensive playmakers though know that they will be challenged come Saturday. This year’s Oklahoma team has a much improved defense as compared to traditional Sooner teams. OU is giving up only 24.54 points and 330.6 yards per game.

“We see they’re fast, of course,” Chase said. “But it’s all about working hard. It’s all about technique on the field. You can’t always rely on speed. So it’s either a game of heart or a game of speed.”

LSU’s defense meanwhile will be taking on an offense that 43.23 points and 554.2 yards per game. Oklahoma is led by Heisman runner-up and former Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts (3,634 passing yards, 32 touchdowns and 1,255 rushing yards, 18 TD) and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb (58 receptions, 1,208 yards, 14 TD).

“Their offense, Jalen’s a great quarterback, you know,” LSU linebacker Patrick Queen said. 

“CeeDee Lamb is a great wide receiver. They do a lot of plays, like Coach said. Looking at the film, everybody’s got to do their job. We’re going to stick to the game plan. We trust Coach with his game plan. It’s a great one. We’ll see what happens.”

Jim Thorpe Award winner Grant Delpit is looking forward to the matchup between OU’s speedy wide receivers and LSU’s defensive backs.

“Great receivers against great DBs,” Delpit said. “So we’re going to put on a show because they’re going to throw the ball around a lot, try and get CeeDee the ball, he’s a great player, and Jalen is going to run the ball a lot, and it’s going to be a good match-up.”

LSU enters the game as a two-touchdown favorite and is predicted by many to rout Oklahoma and punch their ticket to the College Football Playoff National Championship game in New Orleans.

Orgeron though stated Thursday that his Tigers will continue to block out all the noise — just like they have all season long.

“We don’t talk about that,” Orgeron said. “We block out the noise. We focus on the task at hand. We don’t pay attention to it.”