Georgia, Ole Miss, Alabama, Tennessee, LSU…and Vanderbilt.
Those are the six SEC teams competing in ranked-vs-ranked matchups this weekend, and as of five years ago most people would have laughed when told that the Commdores were among that group.
But at 5-1 and with plenty of tangible confidence, No. 17 Vanderbilt has a chance to insert itself firmly into the College Football Playoff conversion when it hosts No. 10 LSU on Saturday.
Ahead of the conference clash, ESPN’s Greg McElroy took to his show ‘Always College Football’ to break down the matchup and who he believes will come out on top.
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McElroy first made sure to draw attention to fact that Brian Kelly will be coaching against his former defensive coordinator Clark Lea, who worked underneath Kelly while at Notre Dame. After that, he detailed just how evenly matched this game appears to be on paper.
“Amazingly, you have one of the best offenses in the country in Vanderbilt going up against one of the best defenses in the country in LSU,” McElroy said. “And the quarterback matchup is a terrific one.”
In the end, McElroy has 3 primary questions that will be answered Saturday, and he is certain that the answers to each of those will determine the outcome.
“Question one, will Vanderbilt be able to establish the run against LSU’s top-20 run defense?” McElroy posed. “Question No. 2, will LSU’s offensive line be able to handle Vanderbilt’s aggressive defensive line? And question three, will LSU’s talented wide receivers create problems for Vanderbilt’s secondary?”
The Commodores and Tigers will kick off at noon ET, with the game being broadcast by ABC.
Parker is currently the sports editor with the Enterprise-Journal in McComb, Mississippi. He's a graduate from Mizzou who has experience covering the Tiger football and basketball beats for SB Nation, and he's worked for a variety of sports news outlets in the past.
