The LSU Tigers will travel to Nashville, Tennessee, this Saturday, September 21st, 2019, to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores.

The game will take place at Vanderbilt Stadium, which has been the home of the Commodores since 1922.

LSU enters week four of the college football season at number four in the AP Top 25 poll. Vanderbilt is unranked and did not receive any votes this week.

This will be the first SEC conference game for LSU, and it’s always important to get off to a strong start in conference play. Vanderbilt has started the season 0-2, one of two teams in the Power 5 conferences to be winless. A win here for Vanderbilt would be huge for confidence and momentum, it would also probably be their biggest win in program history. A win for LSU would be business as usual, but more importantly, would give them their first SEC win of the season. 

LSU vs. Vanderbilt TV channel 

The LSU-Vanderbilt game will air on SEC Network. Kickoff is currently scheduled for noon eastern time. 

LSU vs. Vanderbilt players to watch 

Joe Burrow has thrown his name into the Heisman race with his blistering start to the season. In three games, Burrow has thrown for 1,122 yards with 11 touchdowns. His 92.0 QBR is fourth in the nation. It’s truly amazing to see what Burrow has done with the LSU offense this season. Last year, they were good, and everyone knew the Tigers were going to improve offensively, but no one saw this type of production from Burrow coming. If LSU is going to make the playoff, they will need Burrow to keep this type of production up.

Ke’Shawn Vaughn is the key to the Vanderbilt offense. So far this season he has rushed for 130 yards on 32 attempts. When Vaughn is at his best, the Vanderbilt offense is at its best, and vice versa. Many experts consider Vaughn to be the best senior back in this draft class. 

Justin Jefferson is the next great LSU receiver. Jefferson already has 374 yards receiving, and four touchdowns to go along with that. The crazy part is, he only has 19 receptions, so his yards per catch is an absurd 19.7. Jefferson only had six touchdowns all of last year, so he is well on his way to breaking that mark. 

Kalija Lipscomb struggled in the first game against Georgia but rebounded with an eight catch, 98-yard performance against Purdue. He also added a rushing touchdown in that game. Lipscomb is possibly the best WR prospect at Vanderbilt since Jordan Matthews.

LSU vs. Vanderbilt odds

The line currently favors LSU by 23.5 points, and the over/under is currently set at 62.5.

We will continue to monitor the line movement as the week progresses. 

LSU vs. Vanderbilt predictions

Most every expert has LSU winning this game by a big margin. Let’s take a look at how the SDS staff picked this game:

LSU vs. Vanderbilt previous meetings 

This will be the 31st meeting between the two teams, and the first meeting since 2010. LSU leads the all-time series with 22 wins, compared to Vanderbilt’s seven. The teams have also tied one time. 

The last meeting between the two teams came in 2010, a game in which LSU won 27-3. Before that, they played in 2004, 2005, and 2009. LSU came out on top in all three of those meetings. The last Vanderbilt win came in 1990.

The largest margin of victory in the series came in 1985 when LSU beat Vanderbilt 49-7.

The longest winning streak in the series is seven wins in a row for LSU, and this streak is still active.

LSU week three review

Coming off of a hard-fought victory on the road in Austin, Texas, the Tigers hosted the Northwestern State Demons. At the end of the first quarter, Northwestern State led 7-3. In the second quarter, LSU opened the game up and took a 24-14 lead into halftime. In the second half, the LSU defense pitched a shut out, and the Tiger offense was clicking on all cylinders. LSU ended up winning the game 65-14.

The LSU offense struggled in the first quarter, but after that, they were unstoppable. Joe Burrow passed for 373 yards and added two touchdowns through the air. As a team, LSU rushed for 122 yards and passed for 488 yards. The only concern here for the Tigers is the run game. Only rushing for 122 yards against Northwestern State is not great, but the Tigers don’t need the run game if Burrow plays as he did against Texas.

LSU’s defense looked shaky in the first half but picked it up in the second half. They only gave up 42 rushing yards in the game but gave up 232 passing yards. The secondary is a big concern for the LSU faithful, but they will get better. It will be interesting to see how they match up against Kalija Lipscomb and co.

Ed Orgeron in SEC openers

This is Ed Orgeron’s fourth year at LSU and his eighth year as a head coach overall. Let’s see how his teams at LSU have faired in their SEC openers:

-2017: LSU loss at Mississippi State

-2018: LSU win over Auburn 

*In 2016, Orgeron was named the interim head coach on September 26th, after LSU’s loss at Auburn.

Vanderbilt week three review

The Commodores had a bye week last week but played Purdue in week two. The game was close throughout, but Purdue had a slight edge at halftime and broke the game open in the third quarter. After a few fourth-quarter touchdowns, it was closer, but the comeback attempt by Vanderbilt was too little too late. The Commodores ended up losing 42-24.

The offense for Vanderbilt was very solid. Anytime you put up 20+ points, you hope your defense can do its part and hold the opposition. Vanderbilt had 491 yards of total offense, with 420 of those yards coming via air, and 71 on the ground. A solid game offensively, but just not enough to get the job done.

In years past, the Vanderbilt defense has been the cornerstone of their team. This year, that’s not the case. Vanderbilt gave up 509 yards and five touchdowns through the air. They only gave up 31 yards on the ground, which is very good, but the secondary is an obvious hole for Vanderbilt. 

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