Al Dannity riled up Gator nation last week when he predicted a dominant performance from Alabama. Florida fans may want to look away now as he is expecting LSU to ensure a similarly one-sided game.
Now Miles has all the marbles The return of Jordan Jefferson gives LSU an extra element to its emerging offense. Jefferson will, for now, remain behind Jarrett Lee on the depth chart but I expect to see some situational switches between both on Saturday. Neither man can command the attention of the Honey Badger, Tyrann Mathieu. The diminutive defensive back has been a nightmare for offense through the opening month of the year and I expect him to torment Florida all day Saturday.
Battered Gators face daunting task With John Brantley officially out for Saturday’s game, the task of playing under center for Florida falls to freshman Jeff Driskel. Having never thrown more than 6 passes in a game and with a 7 of 16 record for the season, he now faces the mammoth task of taking on the LSU defense. Will Muschamp will hope to lighten the load by passing much of the load onto the shoulders of Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey. Despite their unquestioned flat speed, neither tailback has shown the elusiveness required to test a top tier defense.
This problem could get compounded if the Gators get in a hole early and need to work the passing game. To avoid falling behind fast, the Florida defense will have to do something they couldn’t do against Alabama; stop the run. There’s no Trent Richardson on this LSU team but the Tigers can move the ball on the ground and a couple of early scores could set the table for a rout.
The verdict Winning to Baton Rouge is no easy feat at the best of times. Doing so after being beaten out the gate at home and losing your starting quarterback in the process is close to impossible. This LSU defense is one of the finest units ever assembled and with the offense proving competent, if not explosive, so far this year the Tigers should dominate the battle for field position. Don’t forget the leg strength of LSU punter Brad Wing, who has put in some phenomenal displays in 2011. I expect the Gators to get pinned down early, falling into a hole they have no hope of climbing out of.
