Louisiana Tech vs. LSU Total Prediction
Following a 3-0 start and two wins against top-10 teams, the LSU Tigers will face non-conference foe Louisiana Tech on Saturday. With the total now sitting in the high 40s, will Saturday night’s matchup in Baton Rouge turn into a defensive slogfest?
Game Snapshot
383 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs at 384 LSU Tigers
7:00 p.m. ET, Saturday, September 22, 2018
Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Public Betting Trends
According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetNow.eu, the Tigers are 20.5-point favorites to beat the Bulldogs. The total, meanwhile, sits at 48 points. As of this writing, 71% of the public betting tickets wagered on this matchup are on the Tigers.
Louisiana Tech
Louisiana Tech redshirt junior QB J’Mar Smith completed 24-of-37 passes for 380 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 54 yards and a score on 11 carries in a 54-17 crushing of Southern on Saturday.
Southern is awful, and Smith was more than happy to take advantage. It was a nice bounce-back game after struggling against South Alabama in the opener, as Smith was much more accurate with the football, and he showed the ability to make plays with his legs as well. Louisiana Tech has a chance to compete for a Conference USA title if Smith plays like he did on Saturday. They get a bye before their toughest test of the year; a contest with LSU on September 22.
LSU Tigers
LSU redshirt junior QB Joe Burrow completed 15-of-34 passes for 249 yards and a touchdown in a 22-21 victory over Auburn on Saturday.
Burrow was awful in the first half, and while he wasn’t leaps and bounds better in the final 30 minutes, he made enough clutch plays for the Tigers to pull off the moderate upset. His touchdown pass could have been intercepted, but it went just over the hands of an Auburn defender to Derrick Dillon for 71 yards to make it 21-19. LSU’s defense is going to keep the Tigers in every game, so as long as Burrow doesn’t turn the ball over, they have a chance to beat everyone. He has a much easier contest coming up next Saturday against Louisiana Tech.
Betting Trends
Louisiana Tech
The over is 7-3 in the Bulldogs’ last 10 games played in September and 19-9 in their last 28 games overall.
LSU
The under is 6-2 in the Tigers’ last eight games overall and is 7-3-1 in their last 11 non-conference games.
Prediction
This game reminds me of the matchup LSU had two weeks ago with Southeastern Louisiana. Following a 33-17 upset victory against Miami in Week 1, LSU played a letdown game against a non-conference team and didn’t look sharp in the process. Granted, the Tigers won easily, but scored just 31 points as Burrow looked off with his receivers in the passing game. I see this matchup playing out the same way. Louisiana Tech will struggle to move the ball against this LSU defense and the Tigers will let up offensively following a big win over Auburn last week (and Ole Miss coming up next week, no less). This game should fall under the betting total.
College Football Prediction: Louisiana Tech/LSU under 48