Louisiana Monroe
vs.
LSU
College Football
Pick – Analysis
9/13/14
The SEC West has Four teams in the Top 10 and five teams in the Top 14. LSU is No. 10 in the country and should be looking at a 5-0 record when they have to travel to Auburn in the beginning of October.
The Tigers are -31 point favorites at 5Dimes sportsbook against Louisiana-Monroe this weekend.
LSU didn’t look ready at the start of their season opener after being down to Wisconsin for nearly the entire Game before scoring 15 points in the Fourth quarter. With Zach Mettenberger gone, it was evident in that Game that Anthony Jennings has a way to go at QB before he can be in the same breath as Mettenberger. The sophomore is currently completing 47 percent of his passes, but has five TDs and zero interceptions.
The development of Jennings is going to decide what LSU can do as a team this season. Their running Game is solid, but it’s not other-worldly with Kenny Hilliard and Leonard Fournette leading the way. They struggled for much of the Wisconsin Game, with Hilliard breaking free only on a couple runs as they averaged 2.7 yards per carry as a team. It’s also worthy to note that the Badgers averaged 6.9 yards per carry with a worse quarterback performance.
That Game showed the Tigers’ problems, but they still were able to get the win in the end which is the most important thing. against the Warhawks, LSU will just want to fine-tune their Game before facing Mississippi State in their SEC season opener next weekend.
ULM has been a consistently solid team in the Sun Belt, but that doesn’t mean they’ll have a chance here. They have wins against Wake Forest and Idaho, which are good wins for them, but those two teams will probably finish with two or three wins on the year.
against tougher competition in 2013, the Warhawks lost at Oklahoma 34-0 and at Baylor 70-7. The Sooners scored 34 points and didn’t play all that well in that Game, either.
LSU’s defense will dominate this one and it would be a surprise if ULM reached double digits. Their quarterback is a senior, but his numbers are brutal (career 24 TDs, 31 INTs). Their running attack was the entire offense in their first two Games, but against LSU it’s doubtful they’ll have another 100-yard rusher. With those two factors, another shut out could be in the cards for the Tigers defense.
It’s going to fall on Jennings and company to cover this Game. ULM gave up a 300-yard passer and 100-yard rusher in the Idaho Game last weekend. The LSU offense showed what they could do against a bad Sam Houston State team 56-0. With a bigger offensive line, the Tigers will run it down their throats and dominate the Game. Also in the early going, they should let Jennings air it out some to grow his confidence ahead of the Miss. State Game.
Last week, LSU was -32 point favorites and won 56-0. It wouldn’t be surprising if the same thing happened again.
The Warhawks are 11-4 ATS in their last 15 road Games and 2-5 ATS in their last seven non-Conference Games. The Tigers are only 1-4 ATS in their last five following a straight-up win and only 1-7 ATS in their last eight after allowing less than 20 points in the previous Game. LSU backers just have to hope they don’t get full of themselves after that big win.
These two met twice before. Once in 2003 and once in 2010. Those Games were won by LSU 51-0 and 49-7. Can this one be any different? LSU -31