Tiger Predictions: No. 20 LSU Gets Back on Track With Road Outing Against Vanderbilt

Tigers control from start to finish in confidence boosting win over Commodores

LSU heads to Nashville for its first road outing of the 2020 season looking to get in the win column. The Tigers have many problems they’ll want to start showing improvement on both sides of the ball. 

After a tough week of practice, coach Ed Orgeron said on Thursday the team is ready to establish that standard of performance that was critical week in and week out during the team’s championship run in 2019.

“It means alignment, assignment, technique. Doing your job, playing fast. Running and hitting on defense. The standard of performance that we set on offense is one to follow,” Orgeron said. “Protect the quarterback, run, get our playmakers the ball in space and let them make plays. Make sharp, quick decisions and follow the game plan. We’re far from it. We did some good things, there parts of it but parts of it don’t cut it.”

Here are the keys and predictions to Saturday's game.

Score Prediction: LSU 35, Vanderbilt 13

The Tigers enter this matchup as heavy favorites but as fans and the team alike learned the hard way, anything can happen. LSU will want to show dramatic improvement and that first and foremost comes with eliminating the mental mistakes. 

Tackling and missed assignments on defense helped Mississippi State quarterback KJ Costello pass for an SEC record 623 yards a week ago and while Vanderbilt doesn't pose nearly the same threat, the secondary will want to prove it's a unit still worthy of the title "DBU."

"We noticed early on how they run two tight end sets and a lot of 12 personnel,” linebacker Jabril Cox said. “They try to do a lot of motions and various situations to get your eyes one way and they throw it the other way. We know after the performance last week that this is a copycat type of league so a lot of people are gonna try to air it out on us. We just have to buckle down and show people you can't do that on us."

Derek Stingley being back will make a significant difference as he's almost guaranteed to lock down one side of the field. As Cox alluded to, the blueprint on LSU is to throw at the young corners like Elias Ricks, Cordale Flott and Jay Ward. Those players will have to show improvement quickly and against a freshman quarterback like Ken Seals, it's the perfect matchup to show growth as a player. 

Expect the front seven to continue to apply pressure this week and force a few turnovers on the Vandy offense that struggled to put up yards against Texas A&M. One of the players we'll be keeping an eye on is defensive end Ali Gaye, who recorded a sack, three tackles and three passes defended in week one. 

Vanderbilt butters its bread in the run game but defensive coordinator Bo Pelini will continue to attack with Gaye, BJ Ojulari, Andre Anthony and the LSU linebackers. Stingley's return allows Pelini to be possibly even more aggressive than he was last week, which at times, came at the mercy of the secondary. 

The LSU offense, in all likelihood, will have to play week two without starting left tackle Dare Rosenthal, who suffered an injury late in the week one loss to the Bulldogs. That's not the best news for a unit that struggled as a whole to keep quarterback Myles Brennan protected. 

Additionally, the Vanderbilt defensive line is the strength of the defense that clamped down on Kellen Mond and the Aggies. To beat the Commodores on Saturday, LSU will want to start much faster than it did against Mississippi State. 

Brennan and company were held to 146 yards and seven points in the opening 30 minutes of the game which is not a recipe for success. Last week, we thought LSU might air it out a few times early to get Brennan in a groove. That didn't happen as a combination of protection breakdowns, dropped passes and off target throws led to a first half let down. 

This week, getting the ball out quickly on short slant and pop routes to get the offense in a rhythm should be the right course of action. Those quicker decisions will also keep the Vandy defense from getting early pressure on Brennan. Anytime a penalty or sack occurred in week one, it felt like a lost drive no matter the down so playing clean football will be the focus. 

"On offense, we gotta protect the quarterback better, and then we gotta make better decisions in the pocket," Orgeron said. "We had some guys open, we didn't hit them. Could have stepped up in the pocket and made the decisions. I think that's going to come with more experience. We gotta eliminate the drops. We had too many drops, especially in the beginning of the game we had some critical drops that hurt our drives, and we gotta run the ball better."

Expect LSU to put an emphasis on the run game early as none of the three backs eclipsed 50 yards rushing in game one. Chris Curry seems to be the favored back at the moment though Tyrion Davis-Price did receive a lot of the goal line work against the Bulldogs. 

If LSU's season is somewhat salvageable in 2020, the Tigers will have to show improvement on both sides of the ball. With quite possibly its easiest opponent of the schedule, the ideal outcome would be to jump out early and coast to a win. Any other outcome and we might have to address this team's potential once more.