Here’s a look at the predictions from our Tigerdetails.com staff for the Tigers’ Saturday afternoon game at Mississippi State. The game starts at 2:30 p.m. in Davis-Wade Stadium, televised by CBS,.
James Smith, publisher
The Mississippi State offense may be the medicine Dave Aranda needs to heal his ailing defense. The Bulldogs will be starting true freshman quarterback Garrett Shrader on Saturday and the he will be tasked with keeping pace with the fast-moving LSU offense. The Tigers' run defense has been solid this year and it will force Shrader into a lot of passing situations, which he may not be adept at executing at this stage of his career. Joe Burrow won't allow his offense to come out sluggish and the lack of a Mississippi State pass rush will put enormous pressure on the Bulldogs secondary. While it is a strong unit, they will struggle in handling LSU's talented receiving corps.
PICK: LSU 45, Mississippi State 20
Ron Higgins, columnist
The best way to silence Mississippi State's stadium full of cowbells is a blitz of first quarter points. There's no quarterback in college football equipped for the job better than LSU's Joe Burrow. In No. 2 LSU's 6-0 start, he has completed 43-of-54 passes (79.6 percent) in first quarters for 550 yards, seven TDs and two interceptions. LSU's pass rush needs to build on what it started in the second half of last Saturday's win over Florida.
PICK: LSU 54, Mississippi State 10
Jerit Roser, writer
I'm not sure where some national analysts are pulling this "upset alert" assessment for LSU. This Mississippi State team is nowhere near the challenge that awaited the Tigers in 2017, and the veteran leadership of Joe Burrow, Lloyd Cushenberry III, K'Lavon Chaisson, Rashard Lawrence, Breiden Fehoko and company seems unlikely to allow a trap-game let-down of that magnitude. The Bulldogs are in the bottom half of the nation's statistics in nearly every defensive category and should present a field day for Heisman frontrunner Burrow and the LSU offense. Mississippi State may fire up the cowbells at Davis Wade Stadium two or three times on a big play by Kylin Hill or another playmaker, but it should be a predominantly quiet afternoon for the home team as the Tigers roll their way back to Baton Rouge with their momentum well intact.
PICK: LSU 55, Mississippi State 20.
Julie Boudwin, video/social producer
The No. 2-ranked LSU Tigers travel to Starkville Saturday for what could be considered a trap game with how Mississippi State has played this season, but with quarterback Joe Burrow leading the Tigers we shouldn’t see any let up. The Bulldogs defense isn’t what it was last season. This year they are giving up an average of 394 yards per game, so we should continue to see more big plays from Burrow to Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson, who rank 1-2 in the SEC in receiving yards per game with 115.6 and 111.7.
PICK: LSU 52, Mississippi State 17
