Welcome everyone to a special bowl edition preview for LSU! In this preview, we look at the Tigers matchup against the Louisville Cardinals.
Last Time Out: The last time these two teams took the field; there were two very different results. The Cardinals ended their regular season with a loss to the Kentucky Wildcats by the score of 41-38. LSU on the other hand was able to hold on to take down Texas A&M in a 54-39 shootout in College Station on Thanksgiving night.
Last Meeting: This will be the first ever meeting between these two teams.
What to Watch For:
Offense Lives and Dies By Jackson: When you look at the Louisville Cardinals offensively, it’s been almost solely because of one guy: Lamar Jackson. The sophomore Heisman Trophy winner has put up numbers that belong in the latest edition of Madden instead of actual football. How much of an impact has Lamar Jackson had on this team in 2016? He has accounted for a whopping 73 percent of the Cardinals offense. That is an insane number and when their quarterback flounders, it usually results in a loss. Look at what happened against Houston: you had the Cardinals offense kept under 400 yards for the first time all season. The Kentucky and Clemson losses are the outliers because there was a lack of defensive effort on either side of the ball in those games. If you want to take down the Cardinals, you focus on Jackson.
Aranda Working Overtime: Speaking of taking down the offense, the Tigers defense could have their hands full with Louisville’s QB. The biggest issue is that most of the emphasis in practice these last few weeks has been solely on him. It’s good that it is a point of emphasis, but it’s not the only aspect of the offense that needs to be looked at. It will be interesting to see how much they’ve focused on Jackson as a mobile QB or Jackson when it comes to the passing game.
Tigers Offense Needs to Wake Up: Even if the defense can put together a phenomenal effort, the Tigers need to be able to put points on the board. With how well LSU has played under Coach O, that doesn’t seem to be much of a problem. However, Louisville is as tough as they come when it comes to defending the run and with Guice being the workhorse in this one after Fournette declared he wasn’t going to play. Making LSU play through the air might be the only way the Cardinals comes away with a win in the Citrus Bowl.
LSU Will Win If:
The Tigers will beat Louisville if Danny Etling can have a good performance. The Cardinals defense could cause problems when it comes to the run game as mentioned earlier, so if the passing game can show up the odds are in LSU’s favor. Another big key for LSU is to shut down Jackson. He has been a key point of their success in 2016 and is the Heisman Trophy winner for a reason.
Louisville Will Win If:
The Cardinals will beat LSU if the run defense can hold Guice to under 100 yards. The run defense for Louisville has been stellar; allowing an average of 110 yards per game and has had five games where they held a team under 100 yards. If that can be stopped, Louisville could capitalize on a one-dimensional LSU offense.
-Clint Domingue