Date: December 29, 2015
Time: 8:00 pm
Bowl Game: Advocare V100 Texas Bowl
Good Guys: Texas Tech Red Raiders
Bad Guys: LSU Tigers
Location: NRG Stadium Stadium | Houston, Texas
Weather: Doesn’t matter.
TV/Stream: ESPN (complete channel listing via LSUFootball.net)
Radio: Broadcast Affiliates and TuneIn App
Vegas: Odds opened with LSU favored by 7.5 and has moved to 7 (via OddsShark)
Last Week: It wasn’t exactly last week, but the last time out, LSU beat Texas A&M to save Les Miles’ job, 19-7 (ESPN box score). LSU “struggled” through the last half of the season with losses to Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi, all in a row, before beating the Aggies.
Get caught up on all of the Big 12 action at LandGrant Gauntlet
What’s at Stake: For LSU, I think the Tigers need to win for Miles’ to an extent, but by beating Texas A&M in the last game of the regular season, it put to bed the rumors of replacing Miles. If anything, I think by winning, it would show that Miles is capable of keeping his team in focus for a team that they know they’re better than (at least on paper). Texas Tech meanwhile, has a lot to overcome because the Tigers are still a top 25 team and Texas Tech has struggled against ranked teams (although Texas Tech did beat Arkansas, was close to TCU, but lost badly to Baylor, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State).
Four Key Players:
- QB Brandon Harris (6-3/206): Harris is rough around the edges. Completing 53% of his passes for about 173 yards a game passing with 12 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. He’s not really a runner, averaging only 17 yards a game on the ground and only 3 attempts. Think bus driver.
- RB Leonard Fournette (6-1/230): Oh boy. Fournette averages 25 carries a game as well as 160 yards a game. That’s pretty good. Oh, and throw in 18 touchdowns and you have one of the more dominant running backs in the country. Actually, he may be second to Derrick Henry, so he’s in great company.
- LB Deion Jones (6-2/227): Jones is really good and most likely, you’ll hear his name a lot. Jones has 92 tackles on the year, which is 8 tackles a game, plus 11.5 tackles for a loss, 4 sacks, 3 passes broken up and 6 quarterback hurries.
- S Jamal Adams (6-1/211): Adams averages 5.5 tackles a game, but he’s awfully busy in the defensive backfield, including 5 passes broken up and 4 interceptions on the year. Adams also has 5 tackles for loss, which means that he’s more than adept at playing close to the line of scrimmage.
Miscellaneous: LSU is 52nd in total offense and 25th in total defense, so they’re a much more well-rounded team than you’d maybe expect . . . however, in terms of the the offense, LSU is 110th in passing defense and 10th in rushing offense, so that’s the disparity . . . the defense on the other hand is more balanced as they are 24th in rushing defense and 53rd in passing defense . . . surprisingly, LSU is 114th in red zone defense and 72nd in red zone offense (this surprises me) . . . LSU is 101st in first down offense, which is strange and means that they just don’t get a ton of first downs. This doesn’t mean that LSU has a terrible offense, but it is a bit odd . . .