LSU Hosts Vanderbilt After Both Fall Out Of Top 25

Garrett Nussmeier and LSU (6-4, 3-3 SEC) head back to Baton Rouge to host Diego Pavia and Vanderbilt (6-4, 3-3 SEC) for the first time since 2009 on Saturday at 7:45 p.m.

The previous No.21 Tigers have fallen out of the Top-25 rankings for the first time this season following their 27-16 loss to Florida last weekend.

The previous No. 24 Commadores are also coming off of a loss to South Carolina where they got beaten pretty handedly, 28-7.

Previously

LSU

LSU is struggling.

The Tigers have lost three straight to Texas A&M, Alabama and Florida.

During their first six games of the season, the Tigers were averaging a crazy 36.5 points per game. These past three games, they have only managed 17.3 points. To add to the stats, they rank 92nd in sacks, 113th in turnover rate and 122nd in percentage of plays gaining zero or negative yards.

All of these were visible in the game against the Gators where they lost 27-16. On the stat sheet, the Tigers looked like they should have had the win. LSU had 92 offensive plays and had possesion for almost 42 minutes.

However, the LSU offensive line couldn’t stop the Florida defense and let up seven sacks. The LSU offense also struggled on completions and turnovers.

LSU head coach Brian Kelly discusses morale of the team post Florida loss:

Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt is coming into this game off of a bye week. Bye weeks this time of year can mean two things. The team rests and prepares or the team loses momentum. This bye week was needed for Vanderbilt after Pavia suffered an injury in the fourth quarter against the Gamecocks.

Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea discusses how his team has been preparing during the bye week:

For Vanderbilt, the bye week has proven favorable to them this season. After losing to No.7 Missouri in double overtime, 30-27, on Sept. 21, the Commadores had a bye week and then took down No. 1 Alabama, 40-35.

Vanderbilt has been sneaky this year, having a close game against Missouri, upsetting the No.1 team and only losing by three to No. 5 Texas. They can’t be underestimated.

The Commadores are coming off of a 28-7 loss to South Carolina. This was Vanderbilt’s biggest loss of the season. Their first three losses were 10 combined points.

As the regular season is coming to a close, players are banged up. The Vanderbilt offense hasn’t been as explosive as they have in the past. Pavia and running back Sedrick Alexander have both seen less production in the past couple weeks.

Key matchups

The Vanderbilt offense is explosive and will be a test for an LSU defense that has been struggling. The Commadores lead the SEC in third-down conversion percentage with 52.1%. They also lead the SEC in time of possession, which LSU dominated in against Florida, so that will interesting to view in the game.

Turnovers, quarterback protection and completions are huge for LSU and they need to improve on these to win. Nussmeier was beaten up in the game against Florida after having been sacked seven times. The turnovers for the Tigers also cost them the game and momentum shifts that they could not recover from.

In the game against Vanderbilt, Kelly explains how it’s important to regain explosiveness in the passing game:

Another key is the health of Pavia. Pavia doesn’t seem to be 100% for the game on Saturday, which will be a weakness for Vanderbilt. A healthy Pavia would be key for the Commadores.

The game will kick off at 7:5 P.M. on Nov. 23 on SEC Network.