Coming off of a 38-21 win over Vanderbilt in its conference opener, No. 21 Missouri (5-0) will look to extend its winning streak to six games when No. 23 LSU (3-2) comes to Columbia on Saturday.
The Tigers of Louisiana are coming off of a 55-49 loss to Ole Miss in Week 5 and are looking to bounce back and prove it still has a lot left to play for.
Now it is time for the next edition of the In Enemy Territory.
This week, we've got Jefferson Powell, the publisher at Death Valley Insider, to answer some questions about the Bayou Bengals and what he predicts will happen.
1. The line is set at -6 1/2 for LSU. What do you think of it? Is that line too low? Too high? Or is it just right and why do you think so?
Powell: After seeing this defense the last two weeks, I'm not sure any LSU line is too low. Now that over of 64.5 that might be too low. It's been somewhat challenging to get a solid read on this team and the spreads because there just hasn't been any defense played.
LSU gave up 711 yards of offense and 55 points to Ole Miss last week, the week before that LSU and Arkansas combined for 65 points. I do feel that LSU probably should be the favorite, and I think the line would be bigger if they've played any amount of defense over the last couple of weeks, but they haven't. So I guess if I had to pick one, it's probably where it should be, but I wouldn't trust this defense to cover it.
2. What makes receiver Malik Nabers so special? It feels like he and Luther Burden III are battling it out to be the nation's top receiver.
Powell: Nabers has really grown into a consistent playmaker for the Tigers. They saw something in the bowl game last year and why it took the coaching staff that long to figure it out I don't know but they figured out he's a guy they can move around all over the field and he'll find a way to make plays. With that said, I think he owes a great deal of his success to Jayden Daniels because he's been sensational over the last several weeks. The trio of Daniels, Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. may be one of college football's best right now.
3. What can you tell us about Nabers' partner, receiver Brian Thomas Jr., who already has more receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns than he had all of last season?
Powell: Thomas is a guy that has had the physical tools and athletic ability ever since signing with LSU out of high school, he just had to put it all together. He's 6-foot-4, 205-pounds and has probably been more of a matchup nightmare the last couple of weeks than Nabers.
He's overcome some struggles from his freshman and sophomore seasons and turned into a reliable and productive playmaker for this team and is probably their best deep threat when taking shots down the field. With his length, speed and athletic ability he's a tough matchup for opposing DBs.
4. LSU has allowed 30 points or more in three of its five games and is 108th in pass defense. Why is the defense struggling so much, especially in coverage?
Powell: Alright, the one isn't a short simple answer and we've actually had a thread on our board talking about how to fix LSU's defense. So here are my thoughts on why they're struggling with and what I would do to correct it.
First and foremost, someone on the coaching staff thought it would be a good idea to take one of the best edge rushers in all of college football and stick him at inside linebacker (Harold Perkins Jr.). It didn't work. Then they moved him to more of an OLB/hybrid nickel linebacker who still had responsibilities in coverage.
Things got better, but he still wasn't the Harold Perkins of 2022.
Last week against Ole Miss, was probably the closest thing we saw to 2022 Harold Perkins. Not having him line up on the edge and rush the quarterback is just mind-boggling to me. I never understood the decision when it was first announced and I never understood why it took them so long to correct it, and I'm not even confident that it's corrected because while he's rushing the passer a lot more, he's still moving around quite a bit and dropping back in coverage, though not nearly as much as the first four weeks of the season.
He belongs on the edge rushing the passer. This kind of goes hand in hand with the above, but they haven't been able to get consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Maason Smith hasn't been getting the push we've expected him to get and Brian Kelly has attributed that to a shift in responsibilities. Jordan Jefferson looked impressive against Arkansas creating penetration and pressure, but for some reason, he only saw 15 snaps last week.
Mekhi Wingo has been flashy, but those flashes are few and far between. They need to figure out the best personnel to create pressure on the opposing quarterbacks because other teams have had far too much time to pick this LSU secondary apart. There's been a lot of moving pieces at linebacker. Perkins moving around, Omar Speights being injured.
True freshman Whit Weeks has come in and really impressed in the time that he's seen at inside linebacker. He's been the best true linebacker rushing the passer, he's been the best linebacker against the run and he's been the best one in pass coverage. The kid needs to see the field more.
There's been a lot of moving pieces in the secondary as well. They're without one of their leaders in Greg Brooks Jr., who recently had brain surgery to remove a tumor.
Major Burns has seen some struggles, they've been playing safety Sage Ryan a lot at cornerback and nickel back, but it hasn't really panned out the way the coaching staff had hoped.
And there's been about five or six different cornerbacks that tried their hand at being the No.1's on the field and no one has really stepped up and locked it down.
If I were the one calling the shots, I'd probably take Ryan and move him to more of a traditional safety probably over Burns and I'd role with a combination of Denver Harris, Zy Alexander and Duce Chestnut at CB. One of them can be your nickel and the other two play the outside corners.
5. What or where does LSU feel it has an advantage over Missouri? What does Missouri do well that worries LSU?
Powell: I would say offense definitely. This offense has been lights out and has been one of the best offenses in LSU history. There's been a lot of comparisons to the 2019 Joe Burrow team and I'm not even going to attempt to do that but they're moving the ball very well and they're scoring a lot of points.
The problem is they can't seem to stop anybody.
Just to give you an idea here, LSU punter Jay Bramblett, in LSU's five games he's punted the ball 10 times. LSU's opponents have only punted the ball 14 times in five games. Exactly half of those came in LSU's 41-14 win over Mississippi State. Four of the remaining seven came against an FCS school (Grambling).
It doesn't matter how good your offense is, no team is going to win a shootout every single week if you can't get opposing offenses off the field.
6. What is the panic level for LSU going into Week 6? It already lost two games and it still has to face Alabama and Texas A&M later in the season.
Powell: I wouldn't say there's panic. I think reality is just setting in and they've still got too many issues to be this far into the season. They've still only got one loss in the SEC, so while it might be a tough road ahead, they're not out of the race yet.
I think the fans have come to the realization that a CFP is pretty much not happening, but there's still plenty to play for and if they can find a way to correct some of the issues they have this can be a dangerous football team. Especially if they figure out that defense.
7. What's your prediction? It doesn't have to include a score if you don't want to, but how do you see this one going?
Powell: Well I think both teams score a lot of points, if Missouri can find any amount of defense to slow down LSU, the Tigers (the ones from Louisiana) might be in trouble.
It sounds silly to phrase it this way because it's so obvious but I feel like this one is going to come down to whichever offense can do more against the opposing defense.
I know, that's dumb, right? Like isn't that always what every football game comes down to?... It's just hard to have any kind of faith in LSU. This defense is trending in the wrong direction.
Now, with all that said. I think the best unit on the field Saturday will be LSU's offense and it's not even close. I think Missouri keeps things interesting, but I think Daniels and the LSU offense prove to be too much. I'll give it to LSU, something like 38-30.
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