LSU
vs.
Mississippi State
Pick and Betting Line
9/12/15
LSU didn’t get the tune up they were hoping for on opening weekend as their Game was called after a Four-hOur weather delay. Now, the Tigers have to travel to Mississippi State — a team they lost to last year — in their season opener. The Bulldogs lost a lot of talent from 2014’s 10-win squad and that was evident in their opening win over Southern Miss. Still, LSU is favored by -4 points on the road at 5 Dimes.
Dak Prescott was a Heisman candidate last year and if Mississippi State is to match that 10-win total in 2015, he’ll need an even better season. Going 22-of-38 against a Southern Miss team that had only three wins last year wasn’t the greatest start. Although his 72 yards on the ground and three total touchdowns looked good. Still, the Bulldogs have some work to do. They beat the same Southern Miss team 49-0 in 2014 if that says anything.
LSU wasn’t as good last year with eight wins, but they return a lot of guys from that team, including two QBs still battling for the starting spot and stud running back Leonard Fournette. Brandon Harris got the start in the cancelled opener against McNeese State and led the Tigers to 11 yards on five plays, with their only drive ending on an overthrown bomb. Harris and Anthony Jennings will probably both see time this year, which isn’t a good thing for this offense. They had trouble scoring last year with inconsistent quarterback play and that will probably rear its head again.
The Tigers will lean on their running Game as much as possible throughout the year with Fournette expected to be in for a huge season. Mississippi State knows this and will focus on stopping that. Last year, they did exactly that, stopping LSU to just 89 yards on 35 carries, leading to a road upset of then-No. 8 LSU. Also in that Game, the Bulldogs ran for a huge 302 yards.
Mississippi State will need both of those things to happen again to pull off another win. Their defense has plenty of upperclassmen, but only three returning starters and it can’t be ignored that they allowed Southern Miss to pass for over 300 yards against them. The first task for them will be containing Fournette, and then stopping Harris will be next, a much easier task. However, stopping this LSU team will be a much tougher task than it was a season ago. Now, the Tigers are the experienced group and coming in with a chip on their shoulder on the road.
This may be LSU’s first Game, but it’s not like Les Miles won’t have his troops ready in a hostile territory. The offense is a question, sure, but the Tigers are always known to have one of the best defenses in the country and even with a new coordinator (Kevin Steele),that group isn’t expected to drop off too much
The one way Mississippi State can get an upset win is through Dak Prescott. If he can play as good as he did as a year ago with a lesser team around him, that may be enough to top a one-dimensional offense. And if you’re betting LSU, you best have faith in Brandon Harris at quarterback.
Our Pick – Revenge is a huge motivator in college football. There’s no question Miss State is down a notch or two from last year while LSU could very well have their best team in severa years. That being said, we’ll lay the -4 with LSU and we’ll also make a play on the UNDER 50