Let's dispell some myths.
1. LSU will not underestimate your great team. Yes, I said great, noone gets thru a major conference schedule with your record and is not a great team.
2. One of the most surprising things about LSU is not their speed, because they don't try to take advantage of it enough, but it is how physical it is. Expect a smash mouth game. We are not UF and will not try to be like UF.
3. Our offensive line is very good, but its weak link is going against the guy that abused the best LT in college football.
4. We really aren't a gimmicky offense. Yes, we run some of those plays, but we are coached by a former B10 offensive lineman. We will run a lot of up the gut. When you see Trindon play, it is to make you respect the edges. Sets up long passes. The gimmicks also require a lot of time to scout and gamepan for.
5. Defense. Thank God you guys don't run a spread offense. I'm glad Pellini is going, because we actually digressed against it as the season went along and we saw it a lot. He became very tentative. We are very good against pro-style offeneses.
6. Injuries. In the second half against UT, we did not have one DL starter in for the majority of the snaps. We had two Freshmen and two sophomores playing. Dorsey and Favourite were out, but will be back. The one guy that will not be back was the original starting DT, Charles Alexander. Keiland Williams, RB, has a knee injury and his status is unknown. This is our big speed back. Losing him will hurt, if he is gone. However, everyone else should be at full speed for the first time in a long time.
7. Florida. Actually, UF really hurt us this year. That was the most physical game that I have ever seen. It was also emotionally draining. I don't know if we really got over that game and I believe that is why we lost to UK. No excuse for Arkansas. I also think it took a toll on UF.
8. Your linebackers vs our running backs is the key to the game. If you can keep LSU from running, you will win. LSU is not comfortable when it has to pass a lot. This is an intriguing matchup, because of
OSU consistent playmaking ability vs LSU's multi-faceted running attack.
9. Expect this game to be in the 20s. I expect a hard fought game. I have not had a chance to look at enough tape of tOSU yet to determine a winner yet, but I can tell you their is a lot of character on both teams. This will be very hard hitting game and the victor will definitely have earned a title.
10. I don't want to hear that these teams don't deserve to be there. Both
OSU and LSU have been highly ranked and have had the bullseye on them all year and still persevered. UGA came out of nowhere to finish 3rd in our conference. They don't deserve to be there ahead of us. Kansas definitely could not have handled our schedule if they would have been ranked in the top 5 all year.
11. Respect. I learned this year how much I respect the teams, such as:
OSU, USC, OU, etc. that have won despite having the bullseye on their back all year. We had a hard time with it and are very lucky to be sitting where we are. In '03, we snuck up there at the end. It is something that we will need to learn if we want to be in contention year in and year out.
