The No. 5 LSU Tigers are set to do battle with the Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday, September 3rd in a SEC vs. Big Ten showdown. This will be the second meeting in the last three years between these teams. LSU won 28-24 over Wisconsin as a 5-point favorite in 2014.
Just when it looked like Les Miles would be fired, the Tigers rallied last season and won their final two games to finish 9-3. It would have been a 10-3 season had their game against McNeese State not been canceled. It would have been their fifth 10-win season in the last six years.
The Badgers managed to go 10-3 in head coach Paul Chryst’s first season on the job last year. Had they not lost 6-10 to Iowa, they would have played in the Big Ten Championship. But they finished their season with an impressive 23-21 victory over USC in the Holiday Bowl.
This game will be played at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, home of the Packers. Kickoff is set for 3:30 EST Saturday afternoon with ABC providing the television coverage. Oddsmakers have pegged LSU as a 10-point favorite over Wisconsin with a total set of 44.5 points.
I was impressed with Chryst in his first season in Madison. He took a team that returned just 11 starters and won 10 games. Two losses came by a combined 10 points, and the other was against eventual national champion Alabama in the season opener.
Now Chryst has 12 starters and 51 lettermen back in 2016, and these players are familiar with his systems. Senior RB Corey Clement couldn’t stay healthy last year, otherwise the story may have been different in the Big Ten West. Clement is now healthy and ready to carry the load offensively as the Badgers get back to ground-and-pound after a sub-par season on the ground last year.
I really don’t think the Badgers are going to miss QB Joel Stave that much. After all, he threw just 11 touchdown passes against 11 interceptions last season. Fifth-year senior Bart Houston won the job in camp and should be able to surpass Stave’s mediocre numbers this season. But the key on offense is having four returning starters and 62 career starts along the offensive line.
Defensively, Wisconsin gave up just 13.7 points and 269 yards per game last season. Now they have six starters and four of their top six tacklers back from last year. They are very strong up front with five starters back among their front seven.
The Badgers are very strong up front with five starters back among their front seven. That’s key because they only gave up 95 rushing yards per game and 3.1 per carry last season.
That’s key because the Badgers only gave up 95 rushing yards per game and 3.1 per carry last season. Since LSU lacks a passing game as Brandon Harris has disappointed and will start again, it’s going to be all Leonard Fournette offensively for the Tigers. That makes this an excellent matchup for the Badgers, who will rise to the occasion and hold Fournette in check.
This is essentially a home game for the Badgers as it will be held in their home state of Wisconsin at Lambeau Field. We saw two years ago Wisconsin hold a 24-13 lead over LSU in Houston at the end of the 3rd quarter, only to get outscored 15-0 in the final period and lose 28-24. I look for this meeting to go right down to the wire as well, thus getting 10 points is a value, especially with the location of the game.