Florida Gators (4-1) vs. LSU Tigers (5-0) -9, o/u No line 8:00 p.m. Eastern, Saturday, October 6, 2007 on CBS.
by Jerald of Predictem.com
The Florida Gators will meet the LSU Tigers in this battle of SEC powerhouses. Florida comes into this game off a loss to Auburn last week. LSU has been impressive in all of their wins this year and have just vaulted into the number 1 spot in the National rankings.
These teams met last year as Florida defeated LSU 23-10 in a game that launched them into the National title picture on the way to their championship season.
Florida is led by Sophomore QB Tim Tebow who is a dual QB threat. Tebow has passed for 1,297 yards and 11 touchdowns and has run for 433 yards and 8 touchdowns.
LSU is led by Senior QB Matt Flynn who has completed 56.4% of his passes for 673 yards, 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Ryan Perrilloux has also played significantly and has thrown for 402 yards and 6 touchdowns.
Florida ranks 16th in total offense with an average of 212.2 yards rushing (5.36 yards per rush) and 264.4 yards passing per game. They rank 11th in scoring offense averaging 42.8 points per game. The Tigers offense ranks 30th in total offense averaging 223.4 yards rushing (5.1 yards per carry) and 216.8 yards passing. LSU ranks 16th in scoring offense averaging 39.8 points per game.
The Gators defense ranks 31st in total defense giving up an average of 63.4 yards rushing (2.2 yards per carry) and 247.4 yards passing per game. They rank 32nd in scoring defense giving up an average of 19.6 points per game. LSU ranks 1st in total defense giving up 39.0 yards rushing (1.29 yards per carry) and 135.6 yards passing. They rank 2nd in scoring defense giving up 6.4 points per game.
The Sagarin PREDICTOR ratings at USAToday.com rank the Gators 9th at 86.34. LSU ranks 1st at 96.08.
LSU opened up as a 8 point favorite with a total of 49. The line has risen to LSU -9 and the total has dropped to 46.5. At the time of this writing, the public’s consensus picks were backing the Florida Gators 59%-41%.
The Predictem Pick:
We subscribe to the theory of defense wins championships and this Tiger defense has the look of a champion. We look for LSU to shutdown the running game and Tebow is not a good enough passer to take this game over. We suggest a wager on LSU minus the points.
LSU 31 Florida 17
