Peach Bowl Betting Preview: Oklahoma vs. LSU

Dec 24, 2019

peach bowl, peach bowl pick, peach bowl preview

The Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl as a part of the College Football Playoff this year and plays host to the #1 vs. #4 semifinal featuring the LSU Tigers and Oklahoma Sooners. The game is the first CFP semifinal and will kickoff at 4:00 EST in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.

The LSU Tigers come into this game as sizeable favorites as a -13 point favorite over the Sooners, who enter the playoffs as the only team with a loss this season. The total in this game is currently sitting at 76, which is the highest total in any bowl game this season with two of the best offenses in college football squaring off.

Injury News and Notes

Both of these teams have real concerns that they are currently dealing with behind the scenes and in front of the curtain as well in the case of Oklahoma.

The Sooners have not been super forthcoming when discussing the issues that have been reported but we do know that three Oklahoma players have been suspended for this game. Trejan Bridges is not a key player in the offense, but Stevenson is the true backup running back without Trey Sermon. Ronnie Perkins is a starting defensive lineman that will be missed by the Sooners.

The Sooners also had a starting safety go down in practice with a broken collarbone and that should be a major concern against this passing attack of LSU. LSU has been incredibly quiet about their major injury news leading into this game, but as they arrive in Atlanta and have practices and press conferences, I expect to hear more news about the Clyde Edwards-Helaire injury before kickoff on Saturday.

If I had to guess right now, I do not expect CEH to play in this game and I think that there is a lot of interesting speculation to be had if that is the case. If Edwards-Helaire does not suit up in the game, I think that limiting the drop-off will come down to the coaching staff’s trust in the young running backs on the roster.

John Emery Jr. is likely the most talented back on the roster as a true freshman and I think that he is capable of replicating CEH very well, but I have a lot of concerns about the staff’s willingness to lean on a true freshman like they do CEH.

LSU Key to the Game

I expect the LSU to try and score early and often and actually push the pace in this game. Oklahoma wants to dominate time of possession and the ground game and I expect them to do well when they are playing on an even footing.

However, the Tigers have a lot of defensive talent in the secondary and Jalen Hurts makes a lot of mistakes when playing from behind. I think LSU should try to maximize the possessions in this game because Oklahoma is much more likely to go dormant for a quarter than LSU is.

Oklahoma Key to the Game

OU has to keep the turnover battle in their favor and limit the extra chances that they give to the Tigers. Burrow is capable of throwing an aggressive interception or two and I think that a + in the turnover column would be a huge win for the Sooners.

Spread Pick

I like the Sooners (+13.5) here in a shootout where they can dominate the game on the ground. LSU should have no issue moving the ball, but this is really only going to be the second team all season that LSU has played that is truly prepared to win a game 45-42.

Oklahoma and their offense are used to having to score points to win games and I think that their experience in these games should allow them to hang around.  When betting this game – take the Sooners at our favorite pay per head location https://www.a1pph.com/.

More Pay Per Head tips:

1. Choose our Bookie Software

2. Reliability in Our Pay Per Head Services

3. Find more about our PPH Sportsbook

4. Why choose A1PPH