Joel Klatt predicts outcome of LSU at Vanderbilt

The Vanderbilt Commodores are set to host the LSU Tigers in Nashville over the weekend. It’s a game where both teams want to compete at the top of the SEC, but now have one loss and desperately need to avoid a second.

Ahead of their meeting, Joel Klatt picked the LSU at Vanderbilt game on The Joel Klatt Show. There, with a spread of 2.5 points in Vanderbilt’s favor, per BetMGM, Klatt emphasized how important this game is for Brian Kelly while picking LSU to pick up a close win.

“A loss here would add a ton of pressure to Brian Kelly,” Klatt said. “Looking forward at that schedule the rest of the way for LSU, the high expectations of what they had coming into this season with [Garrett] Nussmeier being back, and if you were to tell an LSU fan, ‘Hey, Blake Baker is going to fix your defense, and your defenses is going to be one of the better defenses in college football,’ you’d say, ‘Oh, we’re 11-1 and in the SEC Championship Game.’ So, if that’s not the case and the culprit is the offense, there’s going to be a lot of scrutiny turned toward Brian Kelly.”

Kelly made the jump from Notre Dame to LSU ahead of the 2022 season. Since then, the Tigers have played for one SEC Championship but have yet to make it to the College Football Playoff. In that time, they’ve been good with a 34-12 record overall, but the jump to greatness has escaped the Tigers.

“He was brought in to win a national championship,” Klatt said. “That’s what he left Notre Dame. So, a loss to Vanderbilt on the road in a ranked matchup? That would not be a good look.”

For the season, LSU is sitting at 5-1 with a loss to Ole Miss. In that time, the major concern has been on the offensive side of the ball, but as Nussmeier’s health improves, the hope is that side of the ball takes off. Vanderbilt, meanwhile, is also 5-1 and coming off its only loss. That was against Alabama. It also means that if either team drops this game, they’re going to quickly fall to the middle of the pack in the SEC race.

“Again, Vanderbilt’s favored by 2.5. I like LSU. The matchup, to me, is good for LSU because of their athleticism on defense. So, LSU wins this one, 20-17. LSU hasn’t scored over 20 against a Power Four opponent. So, I don’t think they have to do that, but they hold Vanderbilt to 17,” Klatt said. “Which means I’m taking the 2.5. A lot of these road teams, I’m taking these points. I think they’re gonna be close games, close October games, and we’re starting to see the cream rise to the top here in college football.”

Kickoff is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. EST on Saturday. In a busy weekend slate of games around the SEC, this one should be among the best.

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