The Tennessee Volunteers are in a brutal slump, and are hoping a new coach can help bail them out of it. Butch Jones was fired after the team’s most recent game and Brady Hoke has been installed as the interim coach. He hopes to give the team a spark and perhaps some schematic wrinkles in a matchup against the LSU Tigers in Week 13 of the regular season.
Tennessee is a heavy underdog despite playing at home as the Vols are winless in SEC play thus far in 2017. LSU is out of the College Football Playoff race but is a solid 7-3 on the season and is hoping to put this one away early to get its eighth win. If the Tigers can establish the run they shouldn’t have much trouble coming away with this victory.
This contest in Week 13 of the regular season will go down Saturday, November 18, 2017, at 7 p.m. ET at Neyland Stadium.
College Football Odds at BookMaker.eu
LSU -15.5
Tennessee +15.5
Over/Under 45.5
Odds Analysis
LSU is more than a two-touchdown favorite in this one and yet the betting public is behind it to cover the spread. More than 82 percent of the action believes the Tigers will win by 16 points or more.
LSU is listed as the -725 favorite on the moneyline. Tennessee is +520 on the moneyline and is getting the vast majority of the action as it would be a lucrative payout.
The scoring total is lower than most college games because LSU has a legitimate defense and the Volunteers struggle to score points on a regular basis.
Coaching Angle
LSU coach Ed Orgeron was an interim himself last season and led his team to victory in his first game, so he knows the issue his team faces. It has not been a good season for Tennessee, but it can still become bowl eligible with victories in its last two games, so there will be some motivation.
Hoke will have some different ideas than Jones, and it will be tough for the Tigers to scout tendencies with a new coach who could implement his own plan. The Volunteers have struggled badly of late but it sometimes feels like there is a new lease on life when a new coach comes in, so this could be a more interesting matchup than it would have been without the coaching change.
Matchup To Watch
Tennessee offense vs. LSU defense -- Are the Volunteers going to be able to move the ball much at all in this one? The Volunteers have struggled on offense this season, averaging only 296.8 yards per game of total offense and 20.4 points per game.
LSU, meanwhile, has been fantastic on defense this season. The Tigers are only giving up 19.4 points per contest and 317.1 yards per game.
Tennessee needs a big game from running back John Kelly. He has carried the ball 154 times for 711 yards and eight touchdowns this year. Kelly has three 100-yard games this season but carried the ball only nine times for 17 yards last time out in a blowout loss to Missouri.
Free ATS Pick
LSU is the superior team and will win this game behind a dominant defensive effort. However, the coaching change should allow Tennessee to play an inspired game for the first time in awhile.
This spread is a bit too large since the Tigers don’t score enough on a consistent basis to dominate teams all the time. Take LSU to win, but the Vols are the choice to cover the spread.
The “under” is the call as Tennessee is going to have great trouble finding the end zone in this matchup.
College Football Odds: LSU 24, Tennessee 13
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