The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-5) and the No. 22 LSU Tigers (8-4) are slated to meet in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl on TuesdayAn opportunity for two once-promising teams to get back on track, LSU and Notre Dame both have a lot on the line this week. Having both suffered some tough losses in recent weeks, the Tigers and Fighting Irish will be hoping that things end differently with this game. The game will begin Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. ET and can be seen on ESPN.
LSU beat Texas A&M 23-17 in its last game. Leonard Fournette had a great game running the ball in the win, running it 19 times for 146 yards and one TD. Notre Dame didn’t have the same success as LSU, getting dominated by USC 49-14 in their matchup. Greg Bryant had a quality performance on the ground for the Fighting Irish, gaining 79 yards and one TD on seven attempts. Malik Zaire added 170 yards through the air.
The Fighting Irish are a seven-point underdog against the Tigers and the Over/Under (O/U) for the matchup is sitting at 52 points. The Tigers enter the game with records of 8-4 Straight Up (SU) and 8-3-1 Against The Spread (ATS) this season. In the past five games, LSU is 3-2 SU and 3-1-1 ATS. They should have no issues lighting up the scoreboard at home against the Fighting Irish, who come into the week as one of the worst-scoring defenses in the nation at 37.8 points allowed per road game. A focal point of LSU’s offense at home is the run game, where they rank 22nd in the country with 250.7 rushing yards per home game. When it comes to home scoring defense, the Tigers know what they’re doing. Those who are unfortunate enough to face them at their home stadium average a Division I-worst 10.1 points per game. Recently, the Tigers have really been causing problems for their opponents. During its last five games, LSU has only given up 267 yards per opponent. The Tigers will need to strip the football against the Fighting Irish. They have the 103rd-most fumbles with one per game. Based off of its tendencies, the Notre Dame defense will probably make it easy on the Tigers right from the first whistle. The Fighting Irish allow their opponents an average of 10.4 points per road game in the first 15 minutes. The Tigers may rely on Notre Dame’s special teams as a means for extra yardage in this week’s clash. Out of all teams, the Fighting Irish are at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to return yards given up, with 42.4 allowed per road game.
As for their opponent, the Fighting Irish have a record of 5-7 ATS and 7-5 SU. Notre Dame played worse than expected over its last five games, going 0-5 ATS to go with a 1-4 SU record. LSU’s defensive backs had better be ready for its opponent’s high-flying passing attack. The Fighting Irish average 305.8 yards through the air over their past five games. Lately, the Fighting Irish have discovered the secret to a better pass defense. They’re allowing only 235.6 passing YPG over their last five matchups. Notre Dame is good at avoiding penalties this season. The team only receives 4.7 per game on average, the 19th-fewest in the country.
Predictions: SU Winner – LSU, ATS Winner – LSU, O/U – Under
Notes
Notre Dame is 0-5 ATS in its last 5 games.
LSU is 4-1-1 ATS in its last 6 games.
Notre Dame is 15-8 SU in its last 23 games.
LSU is 11-4 SU in its last 15 games.
Notre Dame is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of LSU’s last 5 games.
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Notre Dame’s last 7 games.
Notre Dame is 6-2 SU when leading at the half this season. LSU is 5-0 SU when taking a lead into halftime.
Notre Dame is 4-1 SU when leading at the start of the 4th quarter this season. LSU is 6-0 SU when carrying a lead into the fourth quarter.
Notre Dame is only 2-4 SU this season when turning the ball over more than its opponent.
LSU is undefeated (3-0 SU) in games where it wins the turnover battle, and 4-3 SU in games where it loses the turnover battle.
The Notre Dame defense has forced an average of 2.2 turnovers per game this season, but LSU is 3-1 SU when turning the ball over at least 2 times in a game.
The LSU offensive passing attack is ranked only 116th nationally, while the Notre Dame pass defense is ranked 87th. The Fighting Irish passing game is ranked just 16th, compared to the fourth-ranked pass defense of the Tigers.
According to overall FBS team rankings, LSU is rated higher in the ground game on both sides of the ball. Its 29th-ranked rushing attack will face the 65th-ranked run defense of Notre Dame, while its 38th-ranked rush defense will look to contain the 83rd-ranked running game of the Fighting Irish.
