Three SEC football games are headed straight into the weather mess left by Hurricane Isaias, with LSU among the teams dealing with the storm Saturday.
The league’s slate includes four top 10 teams in the mix. Ole Miss is scheduled to go to Nashville, Tennessee, to face Vanderbilt Saturday afternoon. Later in the day, Georgia travels to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, for a matchup with Alabama, while LSU heads to Lexington, Kentucky, to play Kentucky.
The weather threat is already affecting the weekend scene in Tuscaloosa. College Gameday, which is set to be there Saturday, said it will move indoors rather than hold its usual outdoor setup because of the storm danger.
How rough things get will depend on how strong Isaias remains as it moves through each area. The hurricane is expected to make landfall near the Alabama-Florida state line late Friday evening as a Category 2 storm before weakening as it moves inland across Alabama on Saturday and then into Tennessee and Kentucky by late Saturday into early Sunday.
All three games face the risk of strong gusty winds and heavy rain. Inland flooding is also a concern, with 2-4 inches of rain possible across much of Alabama and 1-3 inches expected for Tennessee and Kentucky.
For LSU fans making the trip to Lexington, the forecast calls for a wet day. Rain chances are expected to rise as Isaias gets closer to Kentucky. Tropical cyclones do not typically bring much lightning, so major lightning delays are not expected, but spectators will need to keep an eye out for street flooding around campus and in nearby areas.
In Other News...
LSU Gets A Reassuring Injury Report Before Kentucky Game
LSU heads into its SEC matchup with Kentucky carrying the same kind of availability report it was expected to have, with five Tigers ruled out and no late surprises attached to the list. For a team trying to keep its focus on the conference grind, the news matters less for who is missing than for the fact that the absences were anticipated well in advance, leaving the Tigers with a clearer read on how they will line up.
Kentuckys report is a little more layered, with five players out and a mix of questionable and probable tags that could still alter the depth chart by kickoff. The most encouraging sign for the Wildcats is that Jason Patterson and Aaron Gates are not on the injury report at all and are expected to be available, which gives Kentucky some stability as it tries to navigate a shorter margin for error in an SEC game that already carries plenty of weight. [Read more 🡒]
Lane Kiffin Is Building An LSU Threat Ole Miss Can't Ignore
LSU is nearing the midpoint of its first season under Lane Kiffin, and the Tigers have already shown enough on defense to make the rest of the SEC pay attention. Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt has been among those encouraged by what LSU has done on that side of the ball, pointing to a pass rush and overall defensive profile that could keep the Tigers in the race for the SEC Championship as the schedule gets more demanding.
For a team with Kiffin now running the show, the early storyline has been a little different than the usual offensive fireworks associated with his name. LSUs defense has stood out so far, and that creates a different kind of threat for opponents, including Ole Miss, which knows the tougher stretch is still ahead for the Tigers. The real test now is whether that strong start holds up once LSU gets to the hardest part of the schedule. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Heads Into Kentucky With Major Injury Questions On Both Sides
LSUs injury picture keeps evolving as the Tigers get ready for Kentucky, and the list of unavailable players already includes several significant season-ending losses. Wide receiver Phillip Wright III, safety Dashawn Spears and linebacker Charles Ross are all done for the year, forcing LSU to keep reshuffling pieces on both sides of the ball while trying to maintain its footing in the SEC race.
Tight end Trey'Dez Green adds another layer of uncertainty, with his recovery timeline still unclear even as there is some hope he could return sooner than expected. In the meantime, LSU has been leaning on replacements like safety Tamarcus Cooley and linebacker Davhon Keys, and how well those fill-in roles hold up could shape what the Tigers look like against Kentucky and beyond. [Read more 🡒]