News#4 LSU Travels to the Swamp Saturday to Face the #10 Florida Gators 2:30 CBS
It’s time to put the kids to bed tiger fans. The month of October is upon us and will begin on the road in Gainesville. The highly ranked Florida gators will be ready to give the tigers a nasty welcome when they enter Ben Hill Griffin stadium nicknamed “The Swamp.” The contest between the tigers and the gators has huge SEC title implications. The winner remains in excellent position to win either the east or west division of the SEC. Florida will host Georgia and South Carolina and LSU plays South Carolina and Alabama at home.
The gators have looked like serious championship contenders in defeating Bowling Green, Texas A&M, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Florida is led by sophomore quarterback Jeff Driskel who through 4 games has 698 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 1 interception. Mike Gillislee is their senior running back who has 402 yards on 69 attempts and has scored 5 touchdowns. There is no doubt the tigers ability to contain Gillislee will go a long way in determining the outcome Saturday night. Trey Burton is the junior running back for the gators who has few carries but is dangerous in that he is more of a home run threat and has 2 touchdowns on the year.
The gator wide receivers are led by senior Frankie Hammond who has 205 total yards and 2 touchdowns. Junior tight end Jordan Reed has 193 yards and 1 touchdown while sophomore receiver Quinton Dunbar has 109 yards and 1 touchdown.
LSU Struggles to Put Away Towson; LSU 38 Towson 22
The LSU offense continued to be incredibly sloppy and did not give fans much confidence going into a heavily contested game in Gainseville next week. Considered a slow start a week ago looks more like a dangerous trend. It happened on the road at Auburn and did not improve at home against a heavy underdog in the Towson tigers.
The tigers promised to improve on costly mistakes, fumbles, and overall execution on offense. What was seen Saturday night was nothing that could in any way be considered an improvement. LSU constantly found ways to stumble against a heavy underdog at Auburn a week ago and may have been their own worst enemy again at home with visiting Towson in tiger stadium Saturday night.
#3 LSU Hosts the Towson Tigers Saturday 6:00 ESPNU
For the second week in a row the LSU football team will be facing an opponent nicknamed the tigers. This weeks opponent is not expected to give LSU near the challenge that Auburn did in Jordan-Hare Stadium. Saturday’s game may be seen by most as perhaps a chance to heal up and correct many of the mistakes made last Saturday at Auburn. Especially on the offensive side of the ball.
The Towson tigers are fresh off a 46-17 victory over St. Francis College of Pennsylvania. However on Saturday they will surely enter a hostile environment when they visit Baton Rouge on Saturday night. A situation in which the tigers have been told all week how much they need to improve. One in which this tiger fan hopes that Miles will allow Zach Mettenberger to test the wide receivers early and often especially in the short passing game. The receivers need all the practice they can get because SEC teams will force the tigers to be able to pass quite often.
#2 LSU Survives on the Road at Auburn 12-10
The LSU defense saved the day as the tiger offense struggled. Auburn gave the visiting tigers an inspired effort but the bengals from Baton Rouge had just enough to leave Jordan-Hare with a 12-10 victory. The road in the SEC is a tough one. For all those who are upset that LSU clearly did not show a dominant performance last night the important thing is that they survived against a bitter rival and a venue which has not been friendly to the LSU tigers.
Undermanned Auburn gave the LSU offense fits all night. With the help of Zach Mettenberger’s 2 fumbles, 9 penalties for 80 yards, wild passes, drops, and countless missed scoring opportunities the LSU offense was abysmal especially in the second half. Odell Beckham Jr. who has to step up as LSU’s leader in the wide receiver department for the tigers to have success, had multiple drops. The LSU offensive line was less than impressive against the Auburn tigers mostly in pass blocking. Zach Mettenberger was hurried continuosly and actually did a good job to finish with 169 yards passing for the game.
#2 LSU at Auburn Saturday 6:00 ESPN From Jordan-Hare Stadium
LSU will be favored by at least two touchdowns as they travel to the plains to meet the Auburn tigers on Saturday night. After three dominant performances the tigers will attempt to take their success up a level as they start their quest for another SEC championship. The second-ranked tigers have outscored their first three opponents 145-31 and showcased their talent and depth in last week’s 63-14 rout of the visiting Idaho Vandals.
With Alfred Blue out until November at the earliest look for the tigers to use a heavy dose of Kenny Hilliard and Spencer Ware to pound the Auburn defense. When Auburn loads the box Mettenberger will keep them honest spreading the ball out to receivers Odell Beckam Jr., Kadron Boone, Jarvis Landry, James Wright, and Russell Shepard.
Auburn is not a serious threat to use the passing game often and will not have much success running the ball against a stacked LSU defensive line. Look for LSU to wear down Auburn late in the 3rd quarter.