Recent Play Details

The post-Florida State hangover lasted a little bit longer than Brian Kelly wanted, but the Tigers ultimately did what they were supposed to against Grambling last week. LSU only had a 14-10 lead into the second quarter before the Tigers scored eight-straight touchdowns and added a safety for good measure. LSU's offense finished with 622 yards and 34 first downs. While the Tigers were able to right their ship last week, the Bulldogs had a lot more trouble with theirs. Mississippi State forced five turnovers against Arizona, but still needed overtime to get past Arizona. The Wildcats turned the ball over on their first four possessions, and still took Mississippi State to the wire as a nine-point underdog. The Bulldogs weren't very impressive in their opener against FCS-level Southeast Louisiana, either. That game was 10-7 deep into the first half before Mississippi State eventually pulled away. LSU was a three-point home underdog in last year's meeting. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 13-0 lead, but the Tigers roared back to secure a 31-16 win. LSU is 13-2 straight-up and 12-3 ATS in the Tigers' last 15 trips to Starkville. LSU has won 20 of the last 23 meetings in this SEC series (15-8 ATS), and the Tigers out-gained Mississippi State 417-289 last year. Expect a similar result in this one. Most of Mississippi State's offensive personnel was brought to Starksville to run the Air Raid offense under Mike Leach. That group is now adjusting to Kevin Barbay's offense. The early returns have been shaky. Barbay has done most of his coaching in the MAC at Central Michigan. We're skeptical that some of his concepts are going to transition to the SEC.