2025 LSU Week 8 Preview
Erik Trosclair • October 18, 2025
Let's get into it!
When: Saturday, October 18th, 2025, 11:00 AM
Where: FirstBank Stadium, Nashville, TN
Channel: ABC
Spread: Vanderbilt -2.5
O/U: 47.5
The Tigers will be playing Saturday morning in Music City. This matchup will tell us a lot!
Vanderbilt, 5-1 (1-1), is entering into this contest coming off of a bye week. Vandy does appear to be a little beat up. Keep an eye out for this. The Commodores have the 4th best rushing offense in the SEC as well as the 5th best total offense in the SEC. Diego Pavia is the leader of this team. Pavia has over 1400 passing yards, over 300 rushing yards, and 16 total TDs. Sedrick Alexander and Makihilyn Young are the leaders in the running back room. The leading pass catchers are Eli Stowers, Junior Sherrill, and Tre Richardson. The defense is led by safety CJ Heard, edge rusher Miles Capers, and Bryan Longwell. This isn't your grandpa's, your dad's, nor your Vanderbilt. This is a high strung team. The Tigers are in for a fight.
LSU, 5-1 (2-1), enters the contest coming off of a big win against South Carolina. Garrett Nussmeier appears to be healthy. The ball really jumped off of his hand last week. The Tiger signal caller will look to cut back on the interceptions. Caden Durham and Ju'Juan Johnson will take care of the backfield duties for the Tigers. Both Durham and Johnson had solid games last week. The offensive line will look to build off of the momentum from last week. Trey'Dez Green had a great game last week. It will be interesting to see how the Tigers use Green. Kyle Parker has stepped up big time in recent weeks. I would like to see Parker continue to be involved. Aaron Anderson appears to be good to go for this one. This is huge for the Tigers. The Tiger defense is a solid unit with talent at all 3 levels. Jacobian Guillory is the leader on the line. Whit Weeks, who is a bit dinged up, is the leader in the linebacker room. Tamarcus Cooley and AJ Haulcy are the leaders in the defensive backfield, but this defensive backfield is LOADED with talent!
KEYS TO THE GAME
- The Tigers shut down Diego Pavia last year. This defense had practice last week facing LaNorris Sellers. Let's see if the Tigers can make Pavia one dimensional.
- Can the Tiger defense get off the field on 3rd down?
- Can the Tigers keep the running game going?
This will be a perfect way to start the day, Tiger fans. This looks to be a great game.
Fun Fact: The 1st time these teams met was in 1902. LSU finished the season 6-1 with the only loss being to Vanderbilt. The Tigers went on to capture a co-conference championship.
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