Game by Game Breakdown of the LSU Tigers’ 2015 Football Schedule

Written by Ryan Wright

Les Miles has built a football institution at LSU and now has no one else to blame but himself for the high level of success and expectations that come with being the main man in Baton Rouge.

Miles has three SEC West titles under his belt (2005, 2007, and 2011), two SEC Championships (2007 and 2011), one runner-up finish in the BCS National Championship Game (2011), and one BCS National Championship (2007). Entering the 2014 season he guided LSU to four straight double-digit win seasons before falling to 8-5.

What is the driving formula to Miles’ success? Talent, and a lot of it.

LSU is always at or near the top of the recruiting rankings pulling in some of the best talent throughout the region. That successful formula is also part of LSU’s problem. The turnover on the Tigers’ roster in the last four years has gutted some of the most talented players not only in the SEC but in the nation off the squad seeing seniors and, more importantly, early NFL Draft entries take off to test the professional game.

In 2012, LSU had five players drafted, nine went in 2013, nine again in ‘14, and four went in this year’s draft. The numbers do not account for former Tigers signing free agent deals. It is hard to keep an inexperienced roster full of upper classmen when they are all wanted by the NFL.

The Tigers entered the 2014 season with six starters on offense and six on defense. LSU finished 7-6. Some of the same problems from last season are reoccurring this season with seven starters on offense and six on defense and just four returning starters that are seniors; RT Vadal Alexander, TE Rillon Gordon, LB Lamar Louis, and FS Jalen Mills. Linebacker Deion Jones is the only senior returning who is expected to start that was not a starter in 2014. The rest of the LSU squad is young but talented.

If LSU has plans of returning to 2011 glory of competing for a SEC West title, a SEC Championship, and now entering the College Football Playoffs they must navigate a Western Division that is as deep as it has ever been.

The following is a game by game breakdown of LSU’s 2015 schedule along with what to watch for entering each contest.

Game 1: McNeese State at LSU, Sept. 5
The Cowboys should be the proverbial offering to the LSU faithful of an overmatched FCS team hoping to grab a little bit of glory in a Week 1 upset. McNeese state finished the season 6-5 last year without toppling a Division-I program.

Game 2: LSU at Mississippi State
If Miles has spun a tall tale during fall camp leading the media and everyone else alike to believe that the Tigers are back and world beaters, that notion will be put to the test on the road against Mississippi State.

The Bulldogs have fallen from 2014’s breakout team spending four weeks atop the AP rankings to an afterthought expected to finish last in the SEC West by the media in 2015.

If one listens to MSU head coach Dan Mullen, this year’s Bulldogs’ team will be good. The truth is just four starters return on offense and only three on defense. No matter how many game snaps a guy got last year, returning starters do count for something going towards experience. Hard to take the Bulldogs serious with only two players back on the defensive front seven, no matter how good linebacker Beniquez Brown is.

Mississippi State snuck out of Baton Rouge last year with a 34-29 win exposing LSU. If the Tigers can give a little payback, expect Miles to give it to Mullen and company.

Game 3: Auburn at LSU, Sept. 19
When the two Tigers met last year LSU did not show up getting dropped 41-7 at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Auburn racked up 566 yards of total offense, 298 yards on the ground, allowing Cameron Artis-Payne and Nick Marshall to both go over 100-yards rushing.

Even LSU’s defensive backs have to want this game in 2015 after Marshall connected with Sammie Coates four times for 144 yards with a 57-yard touchdown pass early in the first quarter to set the tone.

Auburn’s bad defense bottled up then freshman sensation Leonard Fournette to just 42 yards on 10 carries, leading LSU in rushing. Anthony Jennings completed 5-of-10 passes for 84 yards and Brandon Harris connected on just 3-of-14 for 58 yards.

Auburn vs. LSU is a revenge game against one of the top rated teams in the nation. This game also sets the tone for how the SEC West race will shape up.

Game 4: LSU at Syracuse, Sept. 26
A couple of good things can come out of an early season trip to Syracuse for LSU; a win over a Power 5 Conference team, beating a potentially undefeated Orange squad, and an easy game after what should be a tough fight against Auburn.

If LSU strolls into Syracuse napping, a potentially potent Syracuse offense could give the Tigers more of a fight than expected. The Orange were tough on defense last season with the No. 26 ranked team in total defense allowing 349 yards per contest.

What jumps out is not the potential of Syracuse but the fact that four starters comeback on offense and three on defense. Senior quarterback Terrel Hunt took over under center at the end of last year proving to be a dual-threat option to keep Syracuse on the field a little bit longer. Can he keep it up in 2015?

Game 5: Eastern Michigan at LSU, Oct. 3
Eastern Michigan was 2-10 last season winning just on MAC game… what else is there to write?

Game 6: LSU at South Carolina, Oct. 10
If one is a fan of South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier, the writing on the wall has to be difficult and troubling to read. After putting the Gamecocks through their most successful run, well – all-time, things are starting to look bleak. The grittiness of quarterback Connor Shaw is two years removed, the Dylan Thompson experiment did not quite go as planned, and now Spurrier is unsettled on who will lead this Gamecocks’ offense.

Not helping matters, running back Mike Davis is gone and Brandon Wilds, although talented, is an injury waiting to happen. Wide receiver Pharoh Cooper is an amazing talent but even he can only do so much game by game to help USC to a winning season.

The biggest shift for South Carolina has been on defense going from a No. 19 overall unit in 2013 to No. 92 in 2014. Co-defensive coordinators Jon Hoke and Lorenzo Ward have to patch together another unit in 2015 around six returning starters.

South Carolina has a little bit of thump up front with three starters returning including right tackle Brandon Shell. The offensive line was supposed to be a strength last season but the run game averaged a middle of the road 161 yards per game.

Mid-Point of the Season Evaluation
Taking the easy way out, LSU could be 6-0, 5-1, or 4-2. As college football schedules go, LSU has an easy first two months and then a hard hitting reality check in November. If the Tigers are undefeated at this point in the season then November becomes a very interesting month. If the Tigers have one loss the SEC West is still in play along with a potential College Football Playoff berth but the task is just starting to become increasingly more difficult.

Game 7: Florida at LSU, Oct. 17
The Gators will be an interesting team to watch in 2015. Can Jim McElwain set up “Tuscaloosa South” in Gainesville and if so how quickly can he turn things around?

McElwain is an offensive minded guy and he pulled a really good defensive coordinator away from Mississippi State, Geoff Collins. Florida should remain fairly stout on defense especially in the back seven. Jon Bullard is a beast along the defensive line but can Collins find three other guys to fill in the gaps respectively? Watch for true freshmen CeCe Jefferson and Jabari Zuniga to make some noise early in the season, especially Jefferson. He could have a Myles Garrett (DE Texas A&M) kind of impact right from the opening kickoff.

Game 8: Western Kentucky at LSU, Oct. 24
This matchup is one for the fans! Western Kentucky was fun to watch last year going 8-5 with one of the best offenses in the nation. Quarterback Brandon Doughty proved to be one of the top gunslingers in the land tossing 49 touchdown passes against 10 interceptions while covering 4,830 yards in the air. The Hilltoppers wide open attack saw Leon Allen go over 1,500 yards making a nice one-two punch to keep defenses honest.

LSU and Florida fight over the DBU title. This game will test the Tigers’ right to be Defensive Back University in 2015.

Week 9: Bye, Oct. 31

Game 9: LSU at Alabama, Nov. 7
The season just got serious for Les Miles, his staff, and the players. Alabama is always loaded with talent but they only return two starters on offense; center Ryan Kelly and left tackle Cam Robinson. The Crimson Tide offense has more holes to fill and players to develop than usual making this a winnable but season pivoting game.

Surprise, surprise, Alabama’s defense is expected to be a dominating group in 2015. Seven starters return including five in the front seven with All-American candidate Reggie Ragland in the middle of the linebackers corps. The front three anchored by A’Shawn Robinson at nose tackle are ridiculously talented.

Going for LSU is the string of games Alabama has to play before hosting the Tigers. That run includes: at Georgia (Oct. 3), vs. Arkansas (Oct 10), at Texas A&M (Oct. 17), vs. Tennessee (Oct. 24), and then LSU.

This game means so much that both teams have their bye week before facing one another.

Game 10: Arkansas at LSU
Back-to-back games against grind it out offenses with tough defenses will be a gut check for the Tigers. Arkansas, like four other SEC West squads, could be a Top 10 team or fall victim to a tough regular season schedule.

Arkansas rolls into Baton Rouge after what should be a tough road game against Ole Miss. The Hogs will not overlook LSU for anyone of the final two games on the schedule, Mississippi State and Missouri. The Hogs also will not be intimidated by LSU after beating them 17-0 after the Tigers had an emotionally draining 20-13 overtime loss to Alabama in 2014.

Game 11: LSU at Ole Miss, Nov. 21
Watching an entire football season play out is a part of the joy of being a football fan, but having a time traveler give Mississippi’s win-loss record for the 2015 season today would be a spoiler worth having. The Rebels could be the biggest swing piece in the SEC West this year with nine starters returning on offense and seven on defense. Knowing how they finish the year could give a pretty good indication on how the west was won.

The nine starters coming back could be a mirage. Wide receiver Laquon Treadwell is coming off a major injury leg injury that required surgery and kept him off the field for spring practices. Will he be 100 percent at any point in 2015? All-American candidate offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil is without a doubt one of the best in the nation but his eligibility is in question after his step-father blew the whistle on some very serious NCAA violations going down in Oxford. As these investigations go, expect nothing to come of it even though a lot reportedly went down.

The big questions for Ole Miss are their run game, which quarterback will start under center, and how will said player perform? The Rebels defense should be great again making this affair a tight one like last year’s 10-7 LSU win.

Game 12: Texas A&M vs. LSU, Nov. 28
When the Aggies come to town, this game is for the coaches! Les Miles squaring off against former DC John Chavis will be fun to watch. Neither coach is fully loaded on offense (LSU) or on defense (A&M) making this a matchup that might be a year or two away from being epic.

The Aggies should be another big test for LSU’s DBU title. A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin had the nation’s No. 12 passing attack despite going through Kenny Hill, who transferred to TCU in the offseason, and Kyle Allen. The Aggies may have the best receiving corps in the nation with Josh Reynolds, Ricky Seals-Jones, and Speedy Noil. With all of that firepower in the passing attack the run offense is nowhere to be found.

Chavis has six starters returning on defense but must fill in the rest with underclassmen.

Texas A&M may have the easiest schedule layout in the nation only leaving the state of Texas three times in 2015 with the last two coming during the last two games of the season, at Vanderbilt and at LSU.

End of the Season Overview
LSU’s season really depends on the play under center. Leonard Fournette should top the 1,000 yard mark easily again this season, and could be even greater if a quarterback who can connect consistently with his receivers is found. Anthony Jennings is the returning starter but Brandon Harris has the bigger upside. The Tigers are loaded at wide receiver, so anyone who can get it into the same zip code as their wide outs will look even better with this collection of talent on the outside.

The Tigers are razor thin up front and have no proven pass rusher on the roster. That’s not to say one cannot emerge but one is not returning. LSU’s secondary is as good as any in the nation so some coverage sacks may come but the back four can only hold a receiver for so long.

Season Outcome
A 6-1 start is very achievable. What happens after South Carolina will determine the outcome of six other college football seasons. A split in November would be a blessing putting the Tigers in a reality setting of 9-3. If LSU can conquer Auburn, Alabama, and Arkansas there is no stopping this team.

If LSU does not have the gas or the quarterback to make it through November 8-4 might be the best one can hope for in 2015.

Photo credit: nolanationrising.com; Les Miles watches the offense go through pregame warm-ups.