LSU Vs. Wisconsin CFN Preview & Prediction

On Tuesday, CFN released a preview and prediction for LSU's season opener against Wisconsin on Saturday. Here are some of the important parts:

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Why Wisconsin Might Win: Is the LSU run defense back up to its normal snuff? The regular season finale against Arkansas was a big strange – with Zach Mettenberger getting hurt and the team needing to scratch and claw its way to a win over an inferior team – but one of the big keys was the effectiveness of the Razorback running game. The 182 yards might not have seemed like much, but Arkansas was coming up with over five yards a crack. If Bret Bielema’s Hogs could do that, could his old team come up with more power against a Tiger D replacing its two starting tackles? Wisconsin will certainly give it a try. It’ll have to because …

Why LSU Might Win: There might not be any passing game to rely on. The Tigers should be able to tee off on Melvin Gordon and the Badgers backs until new starting quarterback Tanner McEvoy can prove he can produce. Even if McEvoy is Peyton Manning right out of the box, where are the UW receivers? Nothing happened when now-Green Bay Packer Jared Abbrederis wasn’t coming up with big plays, and there isn’t a sure-thing top target who’ll make the strong LSU secondary worry.

What’s Going To Happen: The lack of a dangerous downfield passing threat will be a killer for the Badgers. Kenzel Doe and Jordan Fredrick are okay, but they’ll be erased by the LSU corners, allowing the front seven to bottle up Gordon and keep McEvoy from taking off. LSU’s O line will be brutally effective against a new UW defensive front three that will be fine early, but rocky late.

Prediction: LSU 30... Wisconsin 23

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