The LSU Tigers take on the Vanderbilt Commodores this weekend in Death Valley, which means students can feel that familiar sense of SEC energy in the air.
Although some of them aren’t too thrilled with the Tigers’ performance, given their three-game losing streak, students have expressed mixed feelings for this weekend’s upcoming game.
With that being said, how do they predict the game for this Saturday night in Tiger Stadium?
Delaney Jones
Junior marketing major Delaney Jones feels that the Tigers have struggled to come back from their 38-23 loss to Texas A&M, and since then, they haven’t been very confident in their plays due to a lack of trying, something that was especially evident in LSU’s 42-13 loss to Alabama.
Jones told the Reveille that she feels the team’s confidence could be regained at the hands of head football coach Brian Kelly, if he is willing to put in the effort.
“We can’t have a great team if our head coach doesn’t have his full trust in them,” Jones said.
If Kelly manages to get LSU back on its feet for the remainder of the season, Jones is sure the Tigers will bring home a win against the Commodores, especially through sophomore linebacker Whit Weeks, a notable player of LSU’s defensive line.
“I feel like he’s the best guy we currently have because he’s been so consistent throughout the season.”
While she expressed fondness towards LSU’s redshirt junior quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, she feels that he isn’t in the right headspace to help LSU win this weekend, given his recent performance this season.
Jones is also one of the many students who are more than disappointed with LSU’s overall performance as a team to the point that she sold her student section ticket for this weekend.
She left the idea of selling her ticket up to the Florida game this past weekend, where the Tigers lost to the Gators 27-16.
“I told myself that if they did something great for the Florida game, then they would come back home and kill it, but they didn’t,” the Kappa Alpha Theta member said.
While Jones sold her ticket, she is still hopeful that LSU will be able to beat Vanderbilt.
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Prediction: LSU 15-7 Vanderbilt
Gavin Murray
Junior biological engineering major Gavin Murray is another student who feels that the team’s confidence will be the deciding factor in whether or not LSU will manage to defeat Vanderbilt this weekend.
He felt that LSU was having a great run up until A&M and was very confident in the team after they defeated Ole Miss 26-29 and Arkansas, 34-10. But he felt like was watching a completely different team when the Tigers fell to the Aggies.
He expressed that LSU truly struggles to win big games, and, of course, being a team within the SEC, that is an essential key to victory.
“You can’t really drive the Nuss Bus if the other team has the keys.” Murray said.
However, he doesn’t feel that the team’s losses are due to a lack of talent, but rather to a lack of coaching, referring to Kelly’s lack of discipline with his players.
Murray is still very disappointed in LSU’s lack of wins over the past three games, he still has plans to attend the Vanderbilt game this weekend.
“It’s going to be a fun game,” he said. “But I’m not expecting a win.”
Regardless, he still has hope for the Tigers and feels that this will be a high-scoring game in favor of LSU.
Prediction: LSU 28-24 Vanderbilt
Evy Spero
Freshman mechanical engineering major Evy Spero is a new fan to LSU football, attending her first game in Tiger Stadium when LSU knocked out Nicholls State Colonels in a 44-21 win.
She, much like Jones and Murray, is also very disappointed in the team at the moment and feels that being a first-year student only deepens that disappointment, as she so desperately wants to root for the Tigers.
Yet, LSU hasn’t given her much to root for these past few weeks, especially after LSU’s 27-16 loss to Florida, which rendered Spero speechless.
She expressed that LSU’s defense will be most valuable against the Commodores, particularly through Weeks.
“He’s perfect,” Spero said. “I think he’s gonna be the saving grace for this game.”
What separates Spero from the previous predictions given, though, is that while she would love to remain optimistic and believe that LSU can beat Vanderbilt this weekend, she couldn’t bring herself to predict the game in favor of the Tigers after their poor performance since beating Arkansas.
“I do think we’ll get a few points – maybe even a touchdown – but I do think Vandy is going to take the win,” Spero told the Reveille.
Despite that, Spero will still be in the stands to enjoy the cool weather expected to roll in on Saturday night to cheer on the Tigers even if she feels as though the odds aren’t in their favor.
Prediction: Vanderbilt 28-10 LSU
Ava Richardson
Freshman anthropology major Ava Richardson is a very animated LSU football fan – one who is not aboard the Nuss Bus.
Richardson expressed that her frustrations with Nussmeier come from his lack of mobility skills, and feels that if LSU wants to stand a chance against Vanderbilt, he needs to take a break from playing for a while.
“We need to run the ball and move our feet,” Richardson said. “We haven’t seen very much of that this season.”
She noted how she feels beyond both disappointed and frustrated with LSU football at the moment because of the hope the Tigers gave her as they slowly improved at the beginning of the season, only for them to deteriorate as a team after A&M.
Even with that frustration, however, Richardson still stands by LSU.
“I still have faith in the Tigers,” she told the Reveille. “Even if the Cardiac Cats keep on giving me reasons not to.”
Her faith doesn’t lie on the shoulders of a particular player but rather on the little remaining hope she has for the offensive line and its ability to get things together for the last two games of the season.
Richardson is ready to cheer on the Tigers in hopes of a win this weekend and believes the game will be decided by a field goal.
With that being said, she passed words she passionately stands by to the rest of LSU’s football fanbase.
“Don’t lose hope, even if we only have two games left. And, of course, geaux tigers.”
Prediction: LSU 17-14 Vanderbilt
