top of page

LSU VS VANDERBILT PREDICTION & PREVIEW

Writer's picture: Lonn Phillips SullivanLonn Phillips Sullivan

Updated: Nov 23, 2024

SUBSCRIBE HERE TO SUPPORT LSUODYSSEY's MISSION IN PROVIDING TRAILBLAZING, CONSISTENT TIGERS COVERAGE

SUPPORT OUR FRIENDS @ EYECONIKBRAND.COM, LOUISIANA'S #1 STOP FOR CHAMPIONSHIP MENTALITY APPAREL


By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN


On Saturday night, on the heels of 3 straight losses & 4 overall, Brian Kelly's LSU face off against Clark Lea & Diego Pavia's hearty Vanderbilt, a tricky, dangerous game yet again for a squad of Tigers who are fed up with losing....but are they through with it???

Known for pulling off one of college football's greatest all time upsets over #1 Alabama, Vanderbilt controlled The Tide for 4 quarters on the ground & through the air, punishing Kalen DeBoer's team inside the trenches on both sides of the ball....it was thorough drubbing....no fluke whatsoever....even the 40-35 scoreline flatters Alabama beyond belief in a game where they were outclassed by Clark Lea's "SEC doormat".

In comparison, when you study how Alabama was able to dictate & punish LSU's trenches, compared to what Vandy accomplished vs the Tide, plus Diego Pavia's dual threat abilities, and you may have a big problem for both LSU's struggling ground game (2.8 yards per carry, 258 total rushing yards & 1 rushing TD in the last 3 games) & run stopping (666 yards & 13 rushing TDs over the last 10 quarters), respectively.
Pavia (1,853 passing yards, 15 passing TDs, 3 INTs) also leads Vandy in rushing (628 yards & 5 rushing TDs), while TE Eli Stowers is a big play, critical down weapon that could cause serious matchup difficulties for LSU's defense....leading Vandy in receiving at 557 yards, 42 catches and 4 TD grabs (Stowers also threw a touchdown pass, as well).
Will Brian Kelly consider some major lineup changes along his beleaguered, embattled 2024 roster?
Will safeties coach Jake Olson switch his backend tandem, opting for the younger Dashawn Spears, Kylin Jackson, or even Javien Toviano?
Could we see freshman LB Davhon Keys matched up on TE Eli Stowers???
Will Tigers QB Garrett Nussmeier bounce back after 3 straight underwhelming to nightmarish performances?
Can Brad Davis' O-line keep it together following a disastrous mid-season collapse???
Is it possible injured & greatly missed left guard Garrett Dellinger returns to the lineup?

He's practicing and it looks like he may be close to giving it a go...

Against Vanderbilt, whoever plays, however many changes Joe Sloan or Blake Baker make, LSU will be up against it yet again for 5 of their last 6 games,

This will be another game of attrition....

....will the Tigers have it in 'em to reach deep, find another reserve of steel, a next level of energy to overcome the exhaustion, somehow traverse the inexperience of youth combined alongside the ineffectiveness of many of their veterans, the bitterness of knowing their season is lost, perhaps more than a few players understanding these will be their last pair of regular season games as an LSU Tiger....
These are heavy moments & heady times on the calendar every year...now made more dour and less celebratory than years past.....all due to LSU's habit of losing in 2024.
The losing sickness....a disease for which their is no known cure other than strapping it up, stepping on the field and sweating out / purging out the frustration, anger, disgust, and pent up disenchantment...and put 100% into beating Vanderbilt.......because that's all you can control right now, that's all you need to control.....just beat this 6-4 team that lost to Georgia State......clobber this squad who's.....oh wait a minute....LSU is also 6-4....and Kelly, Nussmeier and Co lost to 4-5 Florida....the then 12th ranked SEC squad.

There's no superiority complex going into this one....it's hard to feel overwhelmingly confident, unless LSU begin to perform how they were during their most successful stretches of the campaign: Arkansas, the final quarter & overtime vs Ole Miss, the first 3 quarters vs South Alabama......true complimentary football, led by some chaos created by Blake Baker's defense, setting up the passing dictation of Garrett Nussmeier, the dual threat magic of Caden Durham, and a trio of key receiving targets Aaron Anderson, Mason Taylor, and Kyren Lacy.

I have a feeling it'll be a bumpy ride, though....sometimes things get a little worse before they get better....and that may just be the propeller LSU are running into on Saturday....a season in free fall, without a parachute......let's hope 2024 LSU learn how to fly....


PREDICTION

Diego Pavia's legs and play extensions remain the key difference makers as Vanderbilt just barely squeak past a defiant, but depressed-looking LSU squad looking for answers.

If Brian Kelly trusts in a sudden sea change of youth replacements at one of the safety or linebacker spots (among other positions around the roster), trusting in Kylin Jackson, Javien Toviano, Dashawn Spears and LB Davhon Keys to utilize their speed or enhanced coverage prowess, it would make me reconsider my prediction, simply because the pace of the young guys' will free up Whit Weeks, which in turn balances LSU's entire defense.....but I'm not so sure Kelly will be bold enough to flip that youth movement switch.

Fresh off his quietest showing as a Tiger, (Florida ran exclusively away from Weeks throughout the game, executing their blocks his way at an empirical level), LSU must find a way to unleash their superstar linebacker....hopefully in a mano e mano role vs Diego Pavia....the spy on Pavia's sneaky good rushing majesty.

Overall....while I know we'll receive full metal jacket, "everything you've got" outings by Weeks, Durham, Swinson, Campbell, Alexander, Taylor, Jones Jr, Anderson, and unless he's being sacked 7 times a game or throwing 3 interceptions in a half, Nussmeier, I can trust this team as much as Nuss trusts his O-line on 3rd & 1.......which somehow means not at all.

I'm not sure if this team possess the leaders to wrap their heads around this collapse and how to overcome it, how to get your head low, and kick some ass, take some names...how to stay competitive even when losing....there's only a few guys who are truly like that on this squad....thoroughbreads built and ready for college dominion now as well as the NFL grind ahead (most listed just barely).
Because of this team's specifically exposed deficiencies when facing a running, play-extending quarterback such as Pavia, a splendid creature who feeds on controlled, building momentum or a quick-striking up tempo attack equally, I could see LSU lose by a touchdown or more if they're unable to hold the rope for a 4th straight week.....but it's unthinkable to imagine, even 6 months ago, that we might witness a Brian Kelly-helmed LSU squad fade so hard, fall so fast, and crash so viciously......now facing an opponent that matches up well vs the Tigers and could actually make it 5 total losses & 4 in a row....

LSU 34

VANDERBILT 37


By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN

©️ 2024 Uninterrupted Writings Inc

ROCKING THE NEW SHIRT FROM CORDALEMUZIK.COM or Order @CordaleMuzik on Twitter.

54 views1 comment

Recent Posts

See All

1 Comment


louiscorona47
Nov 22, 2024

I think we will struggle to keep them under 30 points, and I think our offense is unlikely to wake up. The program is not in a great place organizationally or emotionally.

Like
  • White Facebook Icon
bottom of page