Tennessee football: Vols, SEC and top 25 predictions for Week 1 of 2019
Georgia Southern Eagles at No. 6 LSU Tigers
TV: ESPNU; Line: LSU -28; Over/Under: 53.5
Saturday, Aug. 31 at 7:30 p.m.; Tiger Stadium; Baton Rouge, La.
Just like the Georgia Bulldogs, the LSU Tigers enter this season with extremely high expectations. Can Ed Orgeron finally take that next step? His program is close to Tennessee football’s level when it comes to the amount of returning talent they have, and that puts a ton of pressure on him to move past that 10-win mark.
Well, heading into Baton Rouge in the opener is a team known for giving SEC programs hell. The Georgia Southern Eagles are a dangerous team that knows how to limit games and the clock with their triple-option offense, and they also have a lot more experience this year as a top 20 program in overall returning production.
That includes the return of Shai Werts at quarterback and head coach Chad Lunsford being in his second year on the job. Werts obviously had that bogus cocaine charge he had to beat in the offseason. Entering this game, that could be motivation.
Prediction
Nick Saban has ranted in the past about what this program did to the Alabama Crimson Tide in 2011, a team that won the title and had the greatest defense ever. The same will happen here. LSU will win, but they won’t be able to stop this rushing attack. This program is too well-run, and they have lots of experience this year. So they’ll shorten the game and keep it close.