LSU v. Ole Miss Odds

The top-ranked LSU Tigers are set to face the Mississippi Rebels on the road in an SEC matchup between two teams whose season are headed in opposite directions. The Tigers dispatched Western Kentucky easily last week with a 42-9 win in non-conference play, while the Rebels lost an embarrassment to Louisiana Tech 7-27 at home. Their match up last year was a nail-biter as LSU beat Mississippi by a narrow margin of 43-36, but LSU is fully expected to dominate Mississippi this time around.

According to the week 12 college football lines, oddsmakers currently have LSU favored by 29.5-points over Mississippi with the total set at 46.5 points.

Mississippi

It’s been a long and forgettable season for the Rebels, who just lost five straight games with the last one against a mediocre team out of the WAC. The Rebels only wins came against Southern Illinois and Fresno State early in the season. The Rebels have played so poorly throughout the season that it’s no longer a question of if they will lose this weekend, but by how much. Mississippi is averaging a lowly 18.7 points/game while giving up over 30 a contest.

In their last game against Louisiana Tech, Mississippi jumped to an early 7-0 lead but would be ice cold the rest of the game as they were outscored 27-0 the rest of the way. Quarterback Randall Mackey played a terrible game finishing just 6-18 for 106 yards before being replaced by Junior Zack Stoudt.

The Rebels average just 296.8 yards of total offense a game, and looks to have trouble getting to that mark against an LSU defense that allows just over 253 yards a game. LSU features one of the best running defenses in the country, giving up just 83.8 yards/game on the ground, which will make it extremely hard for Mississippi to sustain any drives and put points on the board.

LSU

The only thing keeping this game from being a blowout is the Tigers themselves. LSU will no doubt ensure the victory this weekend, but how motivated will they be when they have No. 6 Arkansas on their minds for next week.

The Tigers had a similar problem when they faced Western Kentucky last week. It took awhile for them to get in their groove as LSU were just leading by 7 points at the half. They were able to come alive and score 28 points in the second half to ensure an easy victory. While Mississippi doesn’t provide a huge scare, anything can happen on the road in the SEC.

The Tigers lead by sophomore Alfred Blue scored 2 touchdowns on 119 yards to lead the high powered attack of the Tigers against Western Kentucky. Michael Ford and Spencer Ware would chip in 62 yards and 39 yards respectively. The Tigers as a team averaged a whopping 7.9 yards/carry.

What a lot of people don’t realize coming into that game is how hard Western Kentucky plays on the defensive side of the ball. LSU will look to have a much easier time moving the ball against a Rebels defense that is 91st in the country allowing just over 425 yards of total offense a game. Mississippi biggest weakness is stopping the run, where they give up 209.9 yards/game.