LSU a Six-Touchdown Favorite Over Reeling Razorbacks

The top-ranked LSU Tigers look to continue their march toward the College Football Playoff when they host the struggling Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday night in Death Valley. Arkansas is a 44.5-point underdog and is 0-5 ATS in its last five, but the Razorbacks have covered nine of the last 12 meetings.

Sportsbook Odds Analysis

The Tigers don’t have a great track record when laying 40-plus points, going 2-8 ATS in their last 10 games. That includes a win by “just” 49 points over Northwestern State earlier this year, when LSU was favored by 51.5. Early money has backed the underdog Razorbacks, who were down to +43.5 by Sunday night.

Arkansas News & Notes

At this point, you’ve got to wonder how much intensity the Razorbacks are going to bring to the football field. That’s what embattled head coach Chad Morris is already doing, questioning his team’s character after a blowout loss at home to Western Kentucky last week.

“It was disappointing with the effort, and it has been over the last couple of weeks,” said Morris, whose 4-18 record in Arkansas can’t exactly inspire much confidence in the Razorbacks’ locker room these days.

Not that Morris hasn’t been trying to find some answers. Last week vs the Hilltoppers, freshman John Stephen Jones (the nephew of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones) became the third Arky QB to start a game this season, and fellow frosh K.J. Jefferson came in in relief.

Neither was effective, going a combined nine of 25 for 87 yards and two interceptions, including a pick-six. After the 45-19 loss to WKU, Arkansas has now been outscored by 97 points in its last three games and is on an 0-5 ATS run.

LSU News & Notes

If you were expecting the Tigers to suffer an emotional letdown last week coming off their big win over Alabama, you were disappointed. LSU scored on four of its first five possessions against Ole Miss, setting the tone in a 58-37 victory that saw the Tigers rack up 714 yards of offense.

Since being slowed to a season-low 23 points in a tight win over Auburn in Week 9, the LSU attack has put up 104 points over its past two games. Joe Burrow added to his Heisman case last week with 489 passing yards and five touchdowns, tying a school record with 17 straight completions at one point.

If LSU head coach Ed Orgeron wants to get on his team about anything this week, it’ll likely be on the defensive side of the ball. The Tigers allowed 614 total yards to the Rebels (including a whopping 402 on the ground) and have given up 78 points in the last two weeks after allowing just 67 in the previous four.

Given LSU’s recent struggles against the run, don’t be surprised to see Arkansas 1,000-yard back Rakeem Boyd get plenty of work in this one.

Betting Pick: Tigers -43.5