LSU Tigers

LSU Tigers vs Southern Miss: Three Storylines To Watch

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The LSU Tigers will welcome the Southern Miss Golden Eagles to Baton Rouge this Saturday in a final tuneup game before they open a brutal stretch of conference games.

Many Tiger fans are already looking ahead to the Ole Miss game next week, and rightfully so. LSU should crush Southern Miss this weekend, but with big games opening next Saturday, there are a few things to look out for as this team battles the Golden Eagles.

Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Does The Unwanted Week Off Impact The Tigers?

When Ed Orgeron took over this team before the Missouri game, we saw him lead his LSU team into that meeting with the Tigers with more fire and energy than we have seen in quite some time. After a huge victory, we all expected to see the team play with even more motivation against the Florida Gators.

Well, that game didn’t happen as planned, and the LSU Tigers got an unexpected extra bye week at a fairly useless time. Of all weeks to get a bye this season, right before the Southern Miss game is probably the worst.

Regardless, the Tigers got an off week, and it will be interesting to see what effect it has on this team. Will they come out and play with as much intensity as we expected to see against Florida? Or will they look sluggish after two weeks off?

Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

How Much Has Danny Etling Progressed?

After Les Miles was fired and Orgeron was named as LSU’s interim head coach, the Tigers made a point to revamp their offense. For years the team had been stale and predictable on that side of the ball, so Coach O wanted to improve his passing attack to balance out his offense.

In the game against Missouri, we saw the coaching staff open up the offensive playbook a bit, and the result was a 42-point explosion against an SEC defense. They let Danny Etling throw the ball far more than Miles did, and we even saw him take a few shots deep down the field.

Etling looked pretty good against the Tigers, and with two weeks to prepare and instill more options in the playbook, it will be interesting to see if he has improved since their last outing.

If Danny Etling has progressed as a player and the staff has taken advantage of the off week to add some additional plays into the mix, the LSU passing attack could be even more dangerous.

Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

What Will We See From Derrius Guice?

In LSU’s last game against the Missouri Tigers, we saw sophomore running back Derrius Guice get the majority of the carries with Leonard Fournette out. Guice did not disappoint, as he ran all over the Mizzou defense and put the ball in the end zone three times.

With Fournette out again this week, Guice will get his second straight start for the Tigers. He does not need to have quite the game he did last week for LSU to get a victory, but this is an opportunity to display just how good he is.

Despite being a backup, Guice is one of the most talented players at the position in the conference. This Saturday, he will see a lot of carries against a lesser opponent, so the potential is there for a huge day on the stat sheet.