Why winning the line of scrimmage, minimizing turnovers are keys to an LSU Week 1 win

For a third straight season, LSU will be opening the season with an electric Week 1 matchup at a neutral site. This year facing off against USC in Las Vegas as they’ll look to change their misfortune following two straight losses to Florida State to open the past two seasons.

The Tigers and Trojans are in similar shoes entering the game as they’ll both look to break in first year starters at quarterback and improve their defense following staff turnover. With The Bengal Tiger‘s Shae Dixon recently revealing what he thinks will be LSU’s keys to victory.

“I think I go into this game thinking let’s just call it old school football, at least in LSU’s mindset,” Dixon said at the On3 Roundtable. “If they can win the line of scrimmage in this game and then minimize turnovers, I think they’ll win.”

“Preseason rankings don’t mean anything, but in the Coach’s Poll, LSU checked in at 13 and USC was just in the Top 25. So I think if you’re talking talent and overall team talent where you’re at as a program, both of them having gone through coaching changes at the same time with Brian Kelly and Lincoln Riley, I think LSU’s further along,” Dixon explained. “I think they’re a little bit better of a football team right now. Even if they’re not to the LSU standard, and certainly USC isn’t to their standard either as a program where they want to be.”

Both teams oddly serve as mirror images of one another ahead of their matchup to kickoff the 2024 season, but Dixon believes that LSU leaning into one of their biggest strengths can take the Tigers along way in their season opener.

“I think they’ve got to go into this one knowing hey look, we’ve got one of the best o-line’s in college football and LSU believes that and they tell themselves that. Go out, execute, and prove it and I think they do probably have the best o-line in college football,” Dixon said.

LSU returns four of their five starters on the offensive line, including the two top offensive tackles in the nation in Will Campbell and Emery Jones. Which paired with similar strength on the defensive line and ball security could set the Tigers up for their first 1-0 start to the season since 2021.

“D-line’s been a big question mark, but that’s why you brought in Bo Davis, they’ve got some veteran pieces. If those two sides kind of find a way to win the line of scrimmage, and like I said, (Garrett) Nussmeier isn’t throwing any picks and nobody’s dropping the ball. I think LSU’s able to win this one and kind of get back on track when in the first two years of the Brian Kelly era, as we noted, they went 0-1 to begin the season with a couple losses to Florida State,” Dixon concluded.