LSU Vs. UNC Week 1 Preview and Score Prediction

Two teams that are trying to regain supremacy in their respectful conferences start off in what could be one of the most heated battles in the first week of the college football betting season when the North Carolina Tar Heels and LSU Tigers duke it out in their season opener. Before throwing down on the game, there are three keys to the final outcome that must first be addressed.

- LSU-UNC Week 1 Point Spread: UNC -1 point
- LSU-UNC Week 1 Over-Under: 39.5 points
- Recent Betting Trends: The Over is 13-5 in LSU last 18 road games, Over is 9-3 in NCAR last 12 home games

LSU vs. UNC Key #1: Will North Carolina's defense be scarred from the potential off the field scandals? - Butch Davis swears that he hasn't done anything wrong in the recruitment process of some of his NFL caliber defensive players. The Tar Heels could quite possibly have the most talented defense they have ever had, which is saying something considering the fact that Julius Peppers once made Tobacco Road his home as a Tar Heel. UNC's defense ranked in the Top 15 in the country in every major category last year, and we don't think that some probes off the field are going to hold these 11 guys back from dominating for a second straight season, beginning with this clash in Atlanta.

LSU vs. UNC Key #2: With Zach Lee gone, can Jordon Jefferson really take the reins? - If anything happens to Jefferson this year, Les Miles is going to kick and scream over how late in the summer his other quarterback, Zach Lee decided to go play professional baseball with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Jefferson is the only quarterback left standing now on this roster of any consequence, but we don't tend to think that it's going to matter. Jefferson is who he is. He’s a kid that will never have a high completion percentage and continue being mistake prone. Throwing just seven picks against 17 TD passes last year was phenomenal by his standards. Going against the men in Carolina blue probably isn't going to help matters any.

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LSU vs. UNC Key #3: Is there anyone on the UNC offense that can produce enough points to beat the Bayou Bengals? - The good news is that it isn't going to take much to get a win in this game. The bad news is that there isn't a lot out there that can put those points on the scoreboard. Though most of the rushing attack is back, quarterback play is questionable at best. Last year, TJ Yates completed just 60.3 percent of his passes for 2,136 yards with 14 TDs and 15 INTs. The Carolina faithful are growing tired of his efforts, and if he can't get at least somewhat of an offense, he is going to continue to hear the wrath.

The Tar Heels and Tigers aren't known for their offense, and this game shouldn't be an exception to that. Two stout defenses will square off, and the end result should be a low scoring slug fest. Still, we're going to show faith in the ACC, as we are down on the Tigers once again this year.

LSU vs. UNC Week 1 Score Prediction: North Carolina 20 - LSU 16