No. 3 Oregon Ducks (-4) vs. No. 4 LSU Tigers, Total 54.5 |
The most high-profile opening week matchup outside of Atlanta, Georgia (Boise State-Georgia) will take place inside Cowboys Stadium Saturday. Two of the best perceived teams in the nation will strap it up and some key players will not be on the field to determine the outcome.
LSU has been dealing with the indefinite suspension of starting quarterback Jordan Jefferson, who was involved in a off-campus fight that has led to possible felony charges.
Jarrett Lee will be stepping in and he’s definitely got some experience in throwing for 18 touchdowns and 18 interceptions in this three seasons in Baton Rouge. The Tigers return plenty of talent around him from a team that finished 11-2 last season.
Tigers head coach Les Miles excels in this situation of posting a 23-0 mark in non-conference regular-season games and has been part of a school-record eight straight season-opening wins. LSU’s last loss to open the season was a 26-8 setback to Virginia Tech in 2002.
LSU is a dominating 20-4 all-time against current members of the Pac-12 Conference, which includes a 3-0 mark under Miles.
Playing inside of a dome will likely factor little in the Tigers ability to come out with a victory, entering with a 22-7 all-time mark when indoors. LSU has won seven-straight games in this situation.
LSU is 11-13 ATS over the last two seasons and the ‘under’ is 10-14 in that span.
Oregon will look to even its record against Southeastern Conference teams, entering with a 4-5 record, including a 1-2 mark versus LSU. The Ducks were 1-1 in such games during the 2010 campaign, handing Tennessee a 48-13 loss in Knoxville before dropping a 22-19 contest in the BCS Championship Game against Auburn.
The school’s No. 3 preseason ranking is the highest in program history and the team is led by running back LaMichael James who needs just 19 rushing yards to move into the top spot in school history in career yards.
Ducks coach Chip Kelly enters his third year and looks to continue the program’s unbelievable run against non-conference competition, winning 26 of the last 30 such contests. Oregon was 3-0 during that stretch versus SEC teams.
Oregon also posted a 3-1 record against top 25 teams last season and is 7-3 against ranked competition under Kelly. He welcomes back 13 starters overall, including seven on offense, a unit that led the country in scoring a year ago.
The boys from Eugene are 14-12 ATS over the last two campaigns and the ‘over’ is 17-8 in that span.
Bettors will likely back the Tigers in this contest due to their 5-2-1 ATS mark in neutral site games, while the Ducks are 1-3-1 ATS as a favorite.
