LSU vs. Florida: TV Info, Spread, Injury Updates, Game Time and More
Old foes LSU and Florida meet Saturday in The Swamp, but neither comes in ranked for the first time since 1989, and neither has anything of merit on its resume.
Les Miles and the Tigers are on the hunt for answers and their first SEC win of the season in their third attempt after most recently getting laughed out of the building at Auburn, 41-7. It is much of the same story for Will Muschamp and Florida, a team that has padded its conference record with wins over Kentucky and Tennessee, but neither being any sort of convincing.
Saturday is going to be a grisly affair. In an era when the passing game trumps all, these two teams hardly have an idea of who the starter is under center and prefer to take a defensive-minded approach into each contest.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
For a pair of struggling teams, this game might just be their highlight of the season. Ugly as it may be, expect the bitter rivals to leave it all on the field.
Bonding Over Issues
In a cruel sort of way, these teams were made for each other.
Florida trots junior Jeff Driskel under center Saturday—but only because the staff is forced to.
See, Driskel has been an absolute dud this season, completing just 54.7 percent of his passes for 695 yards and five touchdowns to six interceptions. Last week in a knee-slapper of a 10-9 win against lowly Tennessee, freshman quarterback Treon Harris entered late and led the team to a win.
So just as Florida seems to find a viable option at the most important position of all, Harris gets suspended by the program for off-field issues, per Roger Simmons of the Orlando Sentinel.
For Miles and LSU, it is back to the drawing board yet again. The team thought it had an answer in freshman Brandon Harris, but he fell flat on his face in the public shaming at the hands of Auburn. Original starter Anthony Jennings did not fare much better. Their numbers on the season tell the whole story:
| Anthony Jennings | 47 | 93 | 818 | 50.5 | 5 | 3 |
| Brandon Harris | 25 | 44 | 452 | 56.8 | 6 | 1 |
Instead of sticking with one of the two, Miles has decided to revert back to an open competition, per The Advocate's Ross Dellenger:
It seems a safe bet that both will take the field at one point or another, not that the approach has worked well to date.
So it is rather easy to see why both of these teams are unranked and this iteration of the rivalry is getting little attention. At the most important position of all, these teams struggle in a shocking manner for programs that reel in so many top prospects on a yearly basis.
The Better the Opponent...
...The weaker these two teams look.
The home team Saturday walloped Eastern Michigan 65-0 but then proceeded to need three overtime periods to defeat Kentucky. A 42-21 loss to Alabama was predictable going into it whereas the Gators should have dismantled a 2-3 Tennessee team but instead won 10-9.
It is even worse for LSU. The Tigers do have a marquee victory over Wisconsin, but a 34-29 loss to Mississippi State saw the Bulldogs rush for 302 yards. Auburn ran for 298 in last week's lopsided outcome.
Both of these teams struggle to contain strong runners, and both bring those to the table, too.
Florida is sure to have a wealth of issues with Leonard Fournette and Kenny Hilliard. The former has 364 yards and four scores on a 5.5 yards-per-carry average while the latter has 309 yards and five scores on a 5.1 yards-per-carry average.
The inverse is true, too. Florida leans on Matt Jones and his 373 yards and three scores for production as well as Kelvin Taylor and his 144 yards and two scores.
So guessing which team will impose its will with its one-dimensional attack is quite an interesting riddle indeed.
When: Saturday, October 11, 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field, Gainesville, Florida
Television: SEC Network
Betting Lines (via Odds Shark):
- Over/Under: N/A
- Spread: LSU (-1)
Team Injury Reports
| Player | Pos. | Date | Details | Status | Injury |
| Jared Foster | QB | 09/06/2014 | is out indefinitely | Out | foot |
| Trey Lealaimatafao | DT | 08/02/2014 | is out indefinitely | Out | arm |
| Connor Neighbors | FB | 10/05/2014 | is questionable for Saturday's game against Florida | Questionable | concussion |
| Dwayne Thomas | CB | 09/29/2014 | is expected to miss the remainder of the season | Out | knee |
| Quentin Thomas | DT | 10/05/2014 | is questionable for Saturday's game against Florida | Questionable | arm |
| Travonte Valentine | DT | 09/10/2014 | is out indefinitely | Out | eligibility |
| Will Grier | QB | 10/05/2014 | is questionable for Saturday's game against LSU | Questionable | back |
| Treon Harris | QB | 10/06/2014 | is expected to miss Saturday's game against LSU | Suspended | disciplinary |
| Mark Herndon | RB | 09/21/2014 | will miss the remainder of the season | Out | knee |
| Thomas Holley | DT | 08/18/2014 | will miss the entire season | Out | hip |
| J.C. Jackson | CB | 09/11/2014 | will miss the remainder of the season | Out | shoulder |
| Jake McGee | TE | 09/07/2014 | will miss the remainder of the season | Out | leg |
| Leon Orr | DT | 10/05/2014 | is questionable for Saturday's game against LSU | Questionable | knee |
| Jeremi Powell | LB | 10/02/2014 | is out indefinitely | Out | knee |
| Brandon Powell | RB | 10/05/2014 | is questionable for Saturday's game against LSU | Questionable | hamstring |
| Michael Taylor | LB | 10/05/2014 | is questionable for Saturday's game against LSU | Questionable | knee |
| C.J. Worton | WR | 09/25/2014 | will miss 2-3 weeks | Out | hand |
Injury reports courtesy of The Sports Network (via USA Today.)
Prediction
The home team has won the last three encounters between these two, and while it is feasible that a strong Florida defense led by surefire first-round pick Dante Fowler Jr. will show strongly, the program itself has steadily been descending into chaos.
Outside of the Harris suspension, sophomore quarterback Skyler Mornhinweg and freshman defensive lineman Gerald Willis III got into a fistfight over cleats that sent the former to a hospital, per Jeff Barlis of ESPN.com.
So no, not all is right in The Swamp. Really, it is not in LSU, either, but the Tigers at least are not embattled with each other off the field.
This one is going to be ugly and low-scoring, with the only real difference between the two being the talent of LSU's running backs. Expect a late field goal to end it, mercifully.
Prediction: LSU 20, Florida 17
Statistics and info courtesy of ESPN unless otherwise specified.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
