Syracuse (2-1) kicks off at No. 25 Louisiana State (2-1) at 7 p.m. from Tiger Stadium or “Death Valley,” where 97,289 fans watched LSU in its home opener nearly two weeks ago. LSU has won 48 consecutive games over nonconference opponents at home in Tiger Stadium. The Tigers are coming off a blowout loss at No. 17 Mississippi State, while SU secured a 41-17 win over Central Michigan in Week 3.

Saturday night’s SU-LSU game will air on ESPN2 and LSU leads the all-time series, 2-1.

Joe Bloss (2-1)
A for effort
LSU 38, Syracuse 21

Syracuse has played well against some good teams in recent years. It has done so at home, with LSU’s visit two years ago providing a fine example. This game will follow a similar trend and the Orange will hang around. But the atmosphere of Death Valley — which we got only a small taste of when Tiger fans inundated a corner of the Carrier Dome in 2015 — is not something SU can duplicate in practice and that will show in the result. Reality will catch up. LSU will win because it is the better team. There’s no shame in that.

Sam Fortier (2-1)
Baton Rouse
LSU 34, Syracuse 24

This forecast hinges heavily on how good banged-up LSU running back Derrius Guice feels. This week he seemed to pick petals off a flower to decide will-he, won’t-he play. Now he will, but a four-year LSU beat writer said the Tigers are coming off perhaps the worst game he’s ever seen the team play. That Mississippi State loss, combined with the fact that LSU’s young defense may struggle with Syracuse’s pace, heartens a two-score game prediction. The Orange won’t win, but it will cover the -21.5 point spread and sneakily post a more impressive showing than expected.

Matthew Gutierrez (2-1)
Go Team
LSU 35, Syracuse 17,

Initially this appeared to be a lopsided, hope-you-get-out-of-it-OK type game for Syracuse. But based on last weekend’s SU win and LSU’s loss, this matchup presumes to be a bit closer. Maybe within three possessions. LSU will get its 49th consecutive nonconference home win in front of about 100,000 screaming fans. Still for SU, there can be little victories from the trip: national and recruiting exposure (primetime ESPN2), a quality test ahead of a winnable game at North Carolina State and, most of all, the chance to grow on a big stage.

Tomer Langer (2-1)
Welcome to the Jungle
LSU 44, Syracuse 24

The song that so frequently greeted Syracuse as a game started in the Carrier Dome is probably a more apt description for the environment the team will find itself on Saturday night. ESPN ran a recent article stating that LSU’s home-field advantage was overrated. It cited its poor performance at home against conference opponents. LSU plays in the Southeastern conference, arguably the best college football conference in the country. SU would struggle against most SEC teams, but at home to No. 25 LSU is going to be tricky. And one thing ESPN’s article did mention was that the home-field advantage became more apparent at night. The Orange will be able to compete, but I don’t see a win on Saturday. The most important thing is that SU’s key players leave the game healthy, an issue the last few times the Orange has matched up with Top 25 teams.

Published on September 22, 2017 at 8:29 pm