Nobody cares. I think we only ever had one MSU poster--PharmDawg--and he only posted like 5 times in all the years I was here.
S&P+ looks to see a pick'em here, though the game is in Baton Rouge. Raw stats have the Bulldogs as the best defense in the league on a ypp basis (although my personal adjusted ypp metric has Florida as the best defense so far), with LSU not bad but also not quite as good as Clanga.
This game last year started the stretch--along with Syracuse, Troy, and Florida--where LSU had already lost some linemen for the season and began having the leftovers injured for a few weeks. Dangerously thin on both fronts and it showed in a string of ugly games. They also mentally wilted. QB Etling hit a beautiful go route down the sidelines early on to DJ Chark for 7 points, which was called back on the most BS of OPI penalties I can recall, including a later drive where MSU's WR ran the exact same pick and correctly was NOT flagged for it. Instead of nutting up and doing it again, the Tigers visibly hung their heads and proceeded to get their asses kicked for the next 3 and a half quarters. This would become an m.o. of those other games mentioned in that time, even the ones they won....LSU would look good to start, something wouldn't go their way, they'd quit.
MSU may win this game, but it's hard to sell the idea of a UGA hangover or looking ahead to Bama. These LSU kids and staff should be thinking revenge from last year's beatdown. Some of them in particular would probably like to atone for lack of leadership and to show MSU that it's a different story when more linemen are healthy and available.
Not much has changed for Moorhead's version of the Bulldogs, they are still mostly running Mullen's offense. Some fans tell me QB Fitzgerald is not ideally suited to what Moorhead wants to do, so for now they're sticking with a round peg for a round hole. The defense likewise still features a lethal front 4, highlighted by two of the best defensive linemen in the nation, Sweat and Simmons. MSU gave LSU fits last year with its option look from trips formation, they'll probably want to test that again after Florida also had some success with it this year, and LSU needs to prove they can stop it.
For LSU, this would be a good week to improve on efficiency in the offense. LSU nets many good drives, but on a per-play basis is horribly inefficient, and it would seem over time that's probably not sustainable. Better run blocking and pass protection from the line is a good place to start, but while the line is showing signs of improvement, MSU is a terrible front to try to make strides against. I think the Tigers need to call 5-6 slants through the game (and hit them, obviously) to take advantage of how i think MSU will align against us. They also need to figure out why their screen game isn't working, because there's likely to a couple of good times for that, and LSU can't afford to waste a play that's there by design on bad execution.
Beyond that, they have to figure out a way to score TDs. Which is the next thing LSU has to improve on; RZ TD %. Having a legit weapon at place-kicker is great, but field-goaling your way to victory is not a strategy for sustained success. This won't be easy, because LSU scores TDs on just 52% of its RZ trips, and MSU is as stingy as they come in allowing TDs.
Tigers look to have an advantage in most ST areas. This is another chance to make a leap forward, but also a chance for a loss to sour a big win over UGA. This game will say a lot about whether this is a 6-2 team in conference, or a 4-4 one.
