Kyle Zedaker/Tennessee Athletics
With all of the Grumors that have been circulating through the media since Butch Jones’ firing, it’s hard to focus on the fact that the Tennessee Volunteers (4-6, 0-6 SEC) take on the No. 20 LSU Tigers (7-3, 4-2 SEC) this Saturday. Here’s a look at the matchup by the numbers.
-17: Number of rushing yards on the season for quarterback Jarrett Guarantano. With this recurring statistic making it into just about every article, this number won’t get any better until the offensive line plays better, and potential starter Will McBride won’t find room, either.
0: Tennessee’s turnover margin 10 games into the season. The Volunteers have just as many takeaways as they do turnovers, which will need to change (in a good way) if the Vols want to become bowl eligible.
5: Jersey number of star LSU running back Derrius Guice. Guice has filled in nicely for NFL-departed Leonard Fournette, and with Tennessee’s run defense not playing to everyone’s expectations, Guice could be having a field day in Neyland Stadium.
8: Number of SEC wins Ed Orgeron has in almost 2 years as LSU’s head coach. It took Butch Jones almost a full five years to accumulate 14 SEC wins. That’s all I have to say about that.
16: LSU’s rank in total defense this season. The Tigers only give up 317.1 yards per game, which ranks fifth-best in the SEC. Tennessee’s defense ranked 86th in the nation and 11th in the SEC, on the other hand.
22.6: Percent chance that the Football Power Index (FPI) gives Tennessee to defeated the Tigers. This is Tennessee’s third-lowest chance of the season, and lowest since facing No. 1 Alabama.
45.5: The over/under for the game. With Tennessee’s offense still trying to find some ground, this one maybe be based on how many points Coach O wants to put up.
147: Number of rushing yards Derrius Guice had against Arkansas last week. Some people may argue that the number is inflated because of Arkansas’ 92nd-ranked run defense, but Tennessee’s is 126th. You might expect that number to be a little higher on Saturday.
2011: The last time LSU played Tennessee, when the Tigers marched into Neyland Stadium and defeated the boys in orange 38-7, and they’ll be looking to repeat that past success today.
