LSU vs. Syracuse: Preview, predictions, live stream

LSU football looks to regroup with Syracuse visiting for Week 4. Can the Tigers get back into form before they return to SEC play?

No. 25 LSU and Syracuse enter their matchup with matching 2-1 records but feeling drastically different. Syracuse gets their first real test of the season as the Tigers are the first Power 5 team they will play. LSU is looking to regroup after an embarrassing SEC debut.

Ed Orgeron’s squad got outclassed by Mississippi State last week. Bulldogs’ quarterback Nick Fitzgerald accounted for four touchdowns. LSU’s Danny Etling threw for just 137 yards on 13-of-29 passing. Star running back Derrius Guice was held under 100 yards for the first time this season.

Guice was originally ruled out for the Syracuse game with what is thought to be a left knee injury. Then a day later, it was announced Guice would be playing after all. However, it was said he would be playing a “limited role” despite starting.

Eric Dungey is the Syracuse offense. The junior quarterback not only has completed 65 percent of his passes while throwing for 787 yards and five touchdowns, he is also the Orange’s leading rusher. Last season, Dungey ran for 293 net yards and six touchdowns. This season he already has 209 yards and four rushing touchdowns. The Orange are coming off a 41-17 drubbing of Central Michigan. Dungey accounted for three touchdowns, threw for 279 yards and ran for 105 yards.

Syracuse and LSU have played three times before. The first two were in bowl games. The Tigers beat Syracuse 13-10 in the 1965 Orange Bowl.  The Orange returned the favor in the 1989 Hall of Fame Bowl 23-10. This home-and-home series began at the Carrier Dome in 2015. Leonard Fournette broke out for 244 yards and two touchdowns in the 34-24 LSU win.

Here’s how you can watch Saturday’s Syracuse Orange vs. LSU Tigers game:

Date: Saturday, Sept. 23
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Venue: Tiger Stadium
TV: ESPN2
Live Stream: WatchESPN

Keys to Victory

Syracuse is in an interesting spot. Based on history and pedigree, one would think the Orange have no shot, but they match up in interesting ways. Dungey is a quarterback in a similar mold to Fitzgerald that gave the Tigers so much trouble last week. The issue is that the surrounding talent dropoff makes replicating Mississippi State’s success difficult. The Orange have been good against the run this season holding opponents to just 84.3 yards rushing, 11th fewest in the country. They haven’t seen a back like Derrius Guice though.

Tigers fans have to be getting sick of the same old problems. LSU has a run-heavy attack without a competent quarterback yet again. Etling has to be better if LSU is going to do anything of import in Orgeron’s first full season as head coach. The numbers Guice, and Fournette before him, put up are even more amazing with how little you have to respect the passing game. If Etling can’t take advantage of a passing defense that was middling at best against inferior opponents, there is little hope for him.

Next: 2018 NFL Mock Draft entering Week 4

Prediction

The Tigers are three-touchdown favorites, which seems high. Syracuse is one of the most up-and-down teams of the last few years. They will get upset at home by a team like Middle Tennessee State two weeks ago and then upset a ranked team the next week like Virginia Tech last year when they were 20-point dogs. If Dungey plays out of his mind, the Orange could win straight up. However, it’s just as likely Guice goes for 200 yards and three touchdowns. By the law of the Syracuse roller coaster, this feels like a down week.

Final Score: LSU 35, Syracuse 17