No. 21 LSU (6-3, 3-2) will lace up their cleats on Saturday afternoon in Gainesville for a date against Billy Napier's Florida Gators.
The Tigers will be looking to get back on track after consecutive losses with the stars prepared to make noise in The Swamp.
It'll be about diversifying the playbook for the Bayou Bengals with Brian Kelly and Co. looking to take the weight off of signal-caller Garrett Nussmeier's shoulders.
"We have to do a better job for him, he's gotta do a better job and we believe in him. As we continue to grow in the first year of a starter that he gives us the best chance to be successful," Brian Kelly said on Wednesday. "Having said that, you can understand what we're working on. You don't need to have a degree in football of any kind to know that we can't continue to have the kind of mistakes on offense we've had."
A look into the final betting odds, college football model picks and what ESPN analyst Greg McElroy had to say of the matchup:
*(All odds according to DraftKings Sportsbook)*
Spread:
– LSU: (-3.5)
– Florida: (+3.5)
Moneyline:
– LSU: (-162)
– Florida: (+136)
Over/Under: 57
The LSU Tigers are currently a 3.5-point favorite heading into the Week 12 clash. A line that hovered around the five-point mark a week ago, Vegas continues leaning towards the Tigers as the favorites on Saturday night.
The expert SP+ model predicts that the LSU Tigers will defeat the Florida Gators by a projected score of 33 to 27 and will win the game by an expected margin of 6.1 points in the process.
The expert model gives LSU a 65% chance of an outright victory over the Gators in The Swamp.
What is the SP+ Model?
According to CFB-HQ, the SP+ model is a “tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency” that attempts to predict game outcomes by measuring “the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football.”
This season, SP+ model is 292-263-8 against the spread while attaining a 52.6 win percentage. The model went 30-19-1 (61%) last weekend in Week 11.
“I’m taking Florida in the game,” McElroy said. “I don’t think LSU has solved their problems with quarterback run. I think [DJ] Lagway will hit a few runs, I think he’ll throw a few deep balls, and I think LSU is just a little bit too one-dimensional.”
McElroy's pick comes under the assumption that Lagway suits up on Saturday night. He's currrently listed as questionable, but is "trending in the right direction," according to Florida head coach Billy Napier.
“I’m taking the Gators, and that’s under the assumption that Lagway will play and the fact that they’re probably gonna have a bit of an inspired effort knowing that LSU might be licking their wounds just a little bit," McElroy added.
No. 21 LSU will return to game action on Saturday afternoon against the Florida Gators with kickoff slated for 2:45 p.m. CT in Gainesville.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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Follow Zack Nagy on Twitter: @znagy20 and LSU Tigers On SI: @LSUTigersSI for all coverage surrounding the LSU program.
Zack Nagy is the Managing Editor and Publisher of LSU Country, a Sports Illustrated Publication. Nagy has covered Tiger Football, Basketball, Baseball and Recruiting, looking to keep readers updated on anything and everything involving LSU athletics.
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