BATON ROUGE, La. — No. 11 LSU returns to the friendly confines of Tiger Stadium Saturday night, looking to wash away the sour taste of their first loss of the season when they host a South Carolina Gamecocks squad that has shown flashes of defensive prowess and offensive firepower.
The Tigers (4-1, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) are coming off a bye week following a 24-19 road defeat to Ole Miss, a game where the highly-rated LSU defense largely held up its end of the bargain, but the offense struggled to find consistency.
LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier has been productive through the air this season, accumulating over 1,100 yards and seven touchdowns. However, the offense has struggled to establish the running game, something the Gamecocks defense will look to exploit.
“We know what’s in front of us,” LSU coach Brian Kelly said this week. “This is the part of the season where teams begin to show what they’re made of.”
South Carolina (3-2, 1-2 SEC) travels to Death Valley with momentum following a dominant 35-13 victory over Kentucky. The Gamecocks are led by dual-threat quarterback LaNorris Sellers, who shredded the Tigers with his legs in last year’s narrow 36-33 LSU victory in Columbia. Sellers has nearly 1,000 yards of total offense this year and presents a major challenge for the LSU defensive front.
Gamecocks coach Shane Beamer will rely on a defense featuring disruptive edge rusher Dylan Stewart, who has four sacks on the year, to pressure Nussmeier and slow down the Tigers’ passing attack.
LSU has historically dominated the series, winning eight consecutive contests and holding a 20-2-1 all-time advantage. However, as demonstrated by last season’s high-scoring thriller, the Gamecocks have the ability to hang in with the conference’s elite.
LSU is currently favored by 8.5 points in the matchup, with kickoff slated for 6:45 p.m. CDT on the SEC Network. A win would keep the Tigers in the hunt for the SEC West title, while a South Carolina upset would mark a massive step forward for the Gamecocks program.
