National analyst picks LSU football to lose to UCLA

Rivals national recruiting columnist Mike Farrell probably isn’t a popular man among LSU football fans this week.

That’s because Farrell made a “bold” prediction for the Tigers’ season-opener against UCLA on Saturday.

Farrell has LSU losing to UCLA in Pasadena on Saturday night.

Here’s what Farrell had to say about the matchup (via Rivals.com):

"Let’s start with LSU losing outright to UCLA. The Tigers are a three-point favorite on the road and UCLA doesn’t exactly have a great home-field advantage. But the LSU prep has been hindered by Hurricane Ida and there are still a lot of young players in key roles on this LSU team. Chip Kelly goes 2-0."

Will Mike Farrell’s LSU football prediction be correct?

The Tigers are currently a -2.5 favorite according to the latest odds from WynnBET, so this would definitely be an upset win for UCLA if Farrell’s prediction is correct.

Farrell made a good point about why he thinks UCLA could win — the Tigers had to relocate to Houston this week due to Hurricane Ida.

But Ed Orgeron tried to make game prep this week as normal as possible. LSU did everything just as they would have done if they were in Baton Rouge. They even left Houston at the same time to arrive in Southern California.

As far as the actual game goes, I still think LSU is going to leave California with a 1-0 record.

The Tigers are the more talented team. I think LSU’s defense — specifically the defensive line — is going to show up in a big way with new defensive coordinator Daronte Jones calling the shots.

This isn’t going to be the same confused defense we saw last season under Bo Pelini. These kids are playing with a purpose. Jones has simplified the defense, which allows LSU’s players to do less thinking and just let their talent take over.

This won’t be a runaway for the Tigers, but I feel confident it will at least be a W in the win column.