(7) Florida at (5) LSU
Time: 7 PM CST
Spread: LSU -13.5
Total: 56
Odds c/o 5dimes
The No. 5 ranked LSU Tigers are 5-0 on the season and will host the No. 7 ranked Florida Gators at 7 PM CST Saturday on ESPN. The Tigers are heavy 13.5-point favorites over Florida, with the betting total set at 56 total points according to college football oddsmakers at 5dimes.
LSU
The LSU Tigers thus far has been the nation’s best offensive team. LSU is averaging 54.6 points per game while allowing under 20, with a point differential of positive-34.8. The Tigers have done it with the strength of its No. 1 rated pass offense while maintaining a middle-of-the-pack rush offense that generates 155.0 yards per game. Quarterback Joe Burrow has benefited from the strength of a powerful offensive line, and he has thrown 78.4 percent for completion with over 1.8k yards. He has 22 TD passes and just three interceptions. Burrow is not a major rush threat at just 2.1 yards-per-carry, but he has picked up 62 rushing yards and a touchdown on his 29 attempts.
No. 1 running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire has been consistent and good. He has rushed 65 times for 360 yards and five touchdowns, while No. 2 and No. 3 running backs John Emery Jr and Tryion Davis-Price combine for fewer carries than Edwards-Helaire, with 54 rushes between them for a total gain of 226 yards and four touchdowns. LSU’s top-three receivers are all having monster seasons. Justin Jefferson ha caught 30 passes for 547 yards and seven TDs. Je’Marr Chase has 23 catches for 451 yards and six touchdowns. And Terrace Marshall Jr has 20 catches for 304 yards and six touchdowns.
The Tigers have scored 22 passing touchdowns this season with just 12 touchdowns via the rush. This team’s M.O. is clear enough, but thus far no opponents have really been able to stop it despite a bit of predictability. With Burrow also finding his two tight ends for 16 combined catches and 222 yards, he has talent all over to pass and hand it of to. The Tigers are just a dominant team due to saturations of talent at the skill positions while also possessing one of the best offensive lines in college football.
FLA
The Florida Gators improved to 6-0 and jumped to No. 7 in the AP Rankings after knocking off Auburn 24-13 in Week 6. It was Florida’s first AP ranked opponent of the season, after defeating a host of lackluster teams in weeks 1 through 5. The Gators now poise itself to knock off a top-five team if it can rally as an underdog at LSU.
Kyle Trask has emerged as a very reliable starter for the Gators. He has thrown for 71.4 percent, 90 percent, and 61.3 percent completions his last three games, while amassing 200 yards or more in two of those three. In the win over Auburn he was 19 of 31 for 231 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Trask did incur four sacks in that game and he has been sacked nine times of the season, but he also averages 9.1 yards-per-completion with a passer rating of 168.1.
The Gators have got good production from its top-two backfield performers. Lamical Perrine has 327 yards and four touchdowns (both team highs), and he averages 4.7 yards-per-carry on his 69 attempts. No. 2 option Dameon Pierce leads the team in yards-per-carry (minimum 20 attempts) at 5.8 yards, and he has two rushing touchdowns to his credit. The Gators have scored 12 TDs via the rush and average 4.3 yards-per-attempt as a team.
The wealth at wide receiver has been very spread out: The Gators have six players with 166 yards or more, and it has four already over the 200-yard mark receiving this season. Freddie Swain leads the team with 280 yards, while Tight end Kyle Pitts leads the team in total receptions (25) and touchdowns (3). Perine has eight catches for 93 yards and a touchdown as the top receiving running back.
