As the kickoff against the Vanderbilt Commodores gets closer, the LSU Tigers defensive outlook continues to get worse and worse.

It will be a weakened Tigers defensive front that must stop what has been a dominant rushing attack from the Commodores.

LSU will already certainly be without defensive lineman Bernard Gooden, per Pete Nakos of On3. Gooden appeared on the injury report as doubtful after playing in just over 40 snaps last weekend against the South Carolina Gamecocks. Something must have popped up during that game.

That also happened to be Gooden's best game since joining the Tigers, with six tackles and 1.5 sacks. He's been a nice addition to the run defense and will be a loss that is felt.

Whit Weeks is the other defensive starter whose status has been put in the air before this one, and would be an even bigger loss to overcome. ESPN's Pete Thamel reports that Weeks will try to warm up before the game, but it is a long shot for him to actually play.

Weeks is one of the motors of this LSU defense, and it will be much harder to adjust to life without him against Vanderbilt than it was when he got thrown out early in the Florida Gators game.

The Commodores' rushing attack ranks No. 23 in the nation with 208.7 yards per game, but they lead all FBS teams with 6.55 yards per rush. With a heavier focus on the ground game, they could do a ton of damage.

It all starts with quarterback Diego Pavia, who has had a great year on the ground. He leads the team with 352 yards on 60 attempts with two touchdowns. He isn't the fastest, but is hard to bring down and almost half of his yards come after contact.

The Tigers were gashed at times by Trinidad Chambliss in the Ole Miss Rebels game, but were also able to contain LaNorris Sellers against the Gamecocks. They will need to try to accomplish the latter again.

Sedrick Alexander leads the Vanderbilt running back room with 319 yards on 50 rushes. He is another back that is hard to bring down, but it's more of his shiftiness than his strength. He's not the biggest back, but can find holes and exploit them.

Makhilyn Young is their home run hitter. He only gets a couple of touches per game, but is a threat to take it to the house every time he gets the ball. He has 21 carries for 211 yards and four touchdowns.

LSU will need their starters to play even better than they have to pick up the slack and their backups will need to step up. This is not a game where the defensive front can look like they lost two starters.

Another test for defensive coordinator Blake Baker to face. He's done fairly well with them so far this season.