College Football Preview: LSU seeks Redemption Against Syracuse

Saturday night, the Syracuse University football team is making its first trip to “Death Valley” to take on the No. 25 LSU Tigers.

Can LSU bounce back?

The Tigers are looking for redemption going into Week 4, following a 37-7 blowout loss at Mississippi State. Reality hit the inconsistent team, dropping the Tigers to No. 25 in the national rank. Head coach Ed Orgeron takes the blame for the loss and believes that this is not LSU football.

In preparation for the matchup against Syracuse, Orgeron and his coaching staff are making changes and creating a faster pace for his players.

A team with a lot of first time players, either true freshmen, redshirt freshmen or first-year starters, have a lot to prove. With a 27-0 win in the season opener against BYU, the blowout in week 3 quickly overshadowed LSU’s success.

LSU sophomore defensive end Rashard Lawrence is expected to play against Syracuse. Lawrence suffered an ankle injury in the season opener against BYU. The same cannot be said for standout tailback Derrius Guice. The junior injured his left knee in the third quarter against Mississippi State, will be and unable to play against Syracuse.

Senior running back Darrel Williams is likely to start against Syracuse. Williams has 28 rushes for 159 yards and four touchdowns this season.

Syracuse

Syracuse is looking to start a streak, coming off of a 41-17 win against Cent Michigan. As of now, the Orange are 23-point underdogs against the Tigers, but if they can take advantage of LSU’s lack of playmakers and keep up with the fast pace defensively, there’s a chance for an upset.

In addition to LSU, Syracuse will take on five nationally-ranked teams over the next eight weeks. Syracuse head coach Dino Babers is looking forward to the competition and isn’t shying away from the challenge.

https://twitter.com/CuseFootball/status/910291689797029888

Thursday night’s game will kickoff at 7:30 PM EST from Raymond James Stadium.