Brian Kelly and the No. 14 ranked LSU Tigers return to Death Valley on Saturday night with the program preparing for a non-conference clash against South Alabama.

The Jaguars head to town led by a fiery offensive duo of Gio Lopez and Fluff Bothwell propelling the program to a hot start this season.

A scoring tandem that has elevated South Alabama to one of the top offenses in the country, they’ll put LSU to the test in a Week 5 battle.

Here’s how to watch, the betting lines and an expert score prediction via the SP+ Model:

Date: Saturday, September 28, 2024
Time: 6:45 p.m. CT
TV Channel: SEC Network
City: Baton Rouge, La.
Venue: Tiger Stadium

LSU: -21.5 (-110)
South Alabama: +21.5 (-110)

LSU to Win: – -1650
South Alabama to Win: +950

Over 65.5 Points: -110
Under 65.5 Points: -110

*All odds via DraftKings*

We turned to the SP+ Prediction Model to give a better understanding of where the Tigers stand heading into this weekend against South Alabama.

The simulation favors Brian Kelly and the LSU Tigers to come out on top over South Alabama in Week 5, as expected.

SP+ logged a prediction that LSU will defeat the Jaguars by a projected score of 42-23 and win the game by an expected 18.7 points.

The expert model gives the Bayou Bengals an 88% chance to come out on top over the Jaguars in Death Valley.

What is SP+? It is a “tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency” that attempts to predict game outcomes by measuring “the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football.”

The SP+ model is 105-91-1 against the spread with a 53.6 win percentage on the year with the latest round of predictions coming out this week.

First-place votes in parentheses

1. Texas (44)
2. Georgia (13)
3. Ohio State (5)
4. Alabama
5. Tennessee
6. Ole Miss
7. Miami
8. Oregon
9. Penn State
10. Utah
11. Missouri
12. Michigan
13. USC
14. LSU
15. Louisville
16. Notre Dame
17. Clemson
18. Iowa State
19. Illinois
20. Oklahoma State
21. Oklahoma
22. BYU
23. Kansas State
24. Texas A&M
25. Boise State

Instant Takeaways: No. 16 LSU Takes Down UCLA 34-17 in Big-Time Victory

What’s Next for LSU Without Harold Perkins?

Nick Saban Calls LSU Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier a “Sleeper” Ahead of 2024 Season

Follow Zack Nagy on Twitter: @znagy20 and LSU Tigers On SI: @LSUTigersSI for all coverage surrounding the LSU program.

As Hurricane Helene takes aim at Florida,certain to bring effects into Alabama as well, let’s sink into some more certain news.

Also, if you’re a fan of comic cons or pro wrestling, you definitely want to check out today’s podcast episode.

Today’s report follows.

Ike

Momentum for a state ban

A Democrat’s bill to ban so-called Glock switches on the state level may see growing support among Republicans during the next legislative session, according to an AL.com report.

A Glock switch is a device that allows a semi-automatic pistol to perform like a fully automatic weapon, with a machine-gun spray of rounds being fired with a single trigger pull. At least one was used in last weekend’s Birmingham mass shooting that killed four people and wounded 17 others.

The bill is being sponsored by Alabama state Rep. Phillip Ensler, a Montgomery Democrat, for the third time. Earlier this year it passed the House of Representatives but never got a vote in the Senate.

Next year odds seem good for the bill once again in the House. Key Republicans with law-enforcement backgrounds have signed on as co-sponsors.

In the Senate, Rules Committee Chair Jabo Waggoner, a Vestavia Hills Republican, said he’s ready to support a ban. Eight Republicans had confirmed to AL.com they’re behind it.

Some are more hesitant. Sen. Chris Elliott, a Josephine Republican, pointed out that Glock switches are already illegal, banned by federal law.

Supporters of the bill counter that, currently, if an officer finds you in possession of the device he or she has to turn the case over to the feds, who then decide whether or not they want to prosecute. With this bill, district attorneys in Alabama can go ahead and prosecute.

The legislation makes possession of the device a Class C felony that can get you 1 to 10 years in prison.

Campus purchase

The former institution of higher learning Birmingham-Southern College has a deal to sell its campus in Birmingham. The buyer, reports AL.com’s Hannah Denham, is another Birmingham school, Miles College.

How much are they paying and what are they going to ultimately do with the campus? We don’t know yet. But $16.5 million will come off the top to settle a debt with ServisFirst.

The two campuses are only six miles apart. Miles said both boards of trustees voted unanimously on the deal.

Stimpson’s tenure

Mobile’s longtime mayor won’t seek re-election in 2025, reports AL.com’s Patrick Darrington.

Sandy Stimpson was first elected mayor back in 2013, the year of the Kick Six, and he is currently serving out his third four-year term.

During that time, thanks to some annexations, Mobile grew to become the second most populous city in the state, leaping over Montgomery and Birmingham and looking up only to Huntsville.

Lunch with Trump

For a guy who has a diamonds-and-gold front door on his three-floor Central Park apartment, former president Donald Trump is anything butostentatious about his road food.

You may recall when the Clemson football team visited the White House in 2019 to celebrate a national championship (doesn’t Clemson winning the national title seem more distant than that?). That was during a government shutdown, so President Trump popped for fast food.

That wasn’t a billionaire being cheap. It was a billionaire in his culinary wheelhouse.

AL.com’s Carol Robinson reports that during Trump’s visit to this Saturday’s Alabama-Georgia game at Bryant-Denny Stadium, he put in the food-request for himself and his guests. On the order? Two McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish sandwiches with cheese, stadium hotdogs, Domino’s pizza and Diet Coke.

He ought to ditch Mar-a-Lago and move to Dothan. The access to fast food on Ross Clark Circle blows away all that frou-frou Palm Beach dining.

U.S. Sens. Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville are supposed to join the GOP presidential nominee at the ballgame.

Quoting

“It’s not scary that they’re here. It’s scary that there are so many unknowns.”

Alabama state Sen. Keith Kelly, who joined other state lawmakers in another public meeting in Sylacauga regarding Haitian migrants.

More Alabama News

Born on This Date

In 1899, composer William L. Dawson of Anniston.

In 1917, jazz trumpet player Nelson “Cadillac” Williams of Montgomery.

In 1932, astronaut Clifton Williams of Mobile.

On the podcast

Guest Joe Crowe is gonna tell us all about Alabama Comic Con and the local rasslin’ scene.

You can find “Down in Alabama” wherever you get your podcasts, including these places:

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday blocked a portion of a new Alabama law limiting help with absentee ballot applications, saying it violates the Voting Rights Act’s assurances that voters who are blind, disabled or cannot read can get help from a person of their choice.

Chief U.S. District Judge David Proctor issued a preliminary injunction stating that the law’s ban on gifts and payments for help with an absentee ballot application “are not enforceable as to blind, disabled, or illiterate voters.”

“The court easily concludes, after reviewing its language, that SB 1 unduly burdens the rights of Section 208 voters to make a choice about who may assist them in obtaining and returning an absentee ballot,” Proctor wrote.

The injunction blocked only one portion of the new law. Most of the law, which was challenged by voter outreach groups, remains in effect. Alabama is one of several Republican-led states imposing new limits on voter assistance.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office indicated in a court filing that it is appealing the decision.

The new law, originally known as Senate Bill 1, makes it illegal to distribute an absentee ballot application that is prefilled with information such as the voter’s name or to return another person’s absentee ballot application. The new law also makes it a felony to give or receive a payment or a gift “for distributing, ordering, requesting, collecting, completing, prefilling, obtaining, or delivering a voter’s absentee ballot application.”

The American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama, the Legal Defense Fund, Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program and the Campaign Legal Center filed a lawsuit challenging the law on behalf of voter outreach groups. Proctor previously dismissed most of the claims.

The voter outreach groups said their paid staff members or volunteers, who are given gas money or food, could face prosecution for helping disabled voters with an application.

“Our democracy works best when everybody can participate in it, and this ruling prevents the enforcement of a cruel law that would have suppressed the voices of blind, disabled, and low-literacy voters,” the organizations said.

In a request to stay the injunction, Marshall’s office wrote that the decision does not follow “common sense.” They argued anyone could help a disabled voter, but “just not in exchange for cash or gifts.” The state had argued the prohibitions are needed to stop paid operatives from corralling large numbers of absentee votes.

“Alabama’s elections will be less secure and the voting rights of the State’s most vulnerable voters less protected if SB1’s injunction remains in place,” Marshall’s office wrote.

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.