Mississippi State hosts LSU: Time, TV channel, watch online, odds

The LSU Tigers head to Starkville to face the Mississippi State Bulldogs this weekend in a matchup of 2-1 teams. It’s hard to get a read on either of these teams after the first three weeks, but both have their fair share of concerns. Saturday is an opportunity for both programs to swing their seasons.

How to watch LSU vs. Mississippi State

Time: Noon ET
TV: ESPN
Watch Online: ESPN App

Betting Odds

(Via OddsShark)

Spread: LSU -2.5 / Mississippi State +2.5
ML: LSU -130 / Mississippi State +110
Total: 56.5

Preview and Pick

We don’t have enough words to get into the weeds of what has happened with these groups the first two weeks of the season. Let’s just say it hasn’t been great and it’s been a little weird.

Mississippi State needed a perfect fourth quarter to come back from a three-score deficit vs Louisiana Tech in week one. The same week that LSU got pushed around by UCLA.

Mississippi State logged a win over a decent NC State team in week two while LSU played with their food but got the win against McNeese State.

Mississippi State lost a weird game against Memphis last week where refs were the headline after the game. LSU finally looked good vs Central Michigan last week, but that was Central Michigan.

We remember what happened last year when these two teams met in the season opener. Mississippi State boat raced LSU out of their own stadium in what was LSU’s first game after the championship.

It was ugly. LSU’s defense had no game plan, no adjustments, nothing. Leach got the best of them. For a week or so, we thought KJ Costello was going to be a Heisman contender.

That was last year. Now we’re here. On paper, LSU is the better team. They have the better quarterback, wide receiving core, and defensive front.

LSU couldn’t stop UCLA’s run game and this is the first decent team they have faced since then. I’m not sure a Mike Leach team can put together the same game plan in the ground game to do what UCLA did to LSU.

Through the air, Mississippi State’s Will Rogers has been inconsistent at times, but he’s a good enough quarterback to take advantage of a defense that doesn’t know their assignments. It’s looking like Derek Stingley Jr won’t be on the field, so someone from LSU’s secondary will have to step in and play well too.

If Will Rogers can get the ball out of his hands quickly and neutralize the LSU pass rush, that could be bad news for the Tigers. After last year, I think the LSU coaching staff put some extra time into scheming up this one.

The good news for LSU is that Max Johnson and his pass-catchers should be able to put up points on this Mississippi State defense. I think Johnson has a strong game and LSU gets a win, but a close one. Give me LSU 31-27.