LSU is facing pressure this season to get back into the national title hunt but they will have to get past Florida and Alabama to do so. College football betting lines list LSU as a 1.5 point favorite vs. North Carolina in their opening game. College football odds could favor LSU a lot in 2010 with their toughest two road contests being at Florida and Auburn. LSU’s game against North Carolina in the opener is a neutral site game at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. The Tigers will have a very tough home game though against defending national champion Alabama. LSU has had a lot of success under head coach Les Miles but in the past two seasons their rivals, Florida and Alabama have won national titles.
LSU has a young team that has a lot of talent but not a lot of experience. The quarterback position is a huge question mark as neither Jordan Jefferson nor Jarrett Lee has been very good. The LSU offense last season was terrible and the quarterbacks were sacked 37 times. Just how bad was LSU’s offense last season? They were 112th in the country and averaged just 304.5 yards per game. The running game for LSU will have three backs, junior Stevan Ridley, redshirt freshman Michael Ford and fifth-year senior Richard Murphy. Ford looks like the best of the three as he had 139 yards in the spring game. The Tigers do return Terrance Toliver at wide receiver so if they can get someone to throw the ball effectively, he could have a good season.
The defense has some question marks up front but the linebacking crew is solid as leading tackler Kelvin Sheppard returns. He will need some help though as not much experience surrounds him. The secondary is very good led by cornerback Patrick Peterson and safeties Brandon Taylor and Jai Eugene.
LSU does have Josh Jasper back at kicker and he was 17-of-20 on field goals last season. They may need him to make some big kicks if they are to have success vs. the college football betting lines and make a BCS bowl game this season.