Sunday, November 13, 2005

The Nasty Boys are Back

With LSU’s thrilling OT victory over Alabama, the Tigers took control of the SEC West, and the defense led the way. The Tide had the upper hand in the first half as they scored 10 points and had 207 yards of offense. But the second half was an entirely different story. The Tigers held the Tide to only 24 yards before the final pass in regulation which went for 40. LSU sacked Croyle 5 times and harassed him constantly. Alabama had 6 drives in the second half; four of those were 3 and outs netting a total of 13 yards. For the 5th game in a row the Tigers did not create a turnover, yet held another opponent to 17 points or less. LSU’s defensive line may be the best in all of college football.

JaMarcus Russell played extremely well for the Tigers. He finished 16 for 30 with 229 yards a 1 TD. He did not turn the ball over once. In his short career, Russell has been balls out when the Tigers need him. Versus Oregon State, Iowa, Arizona State, Florida, and Auburn, Russell has orchestrated 4th quarter scores to put LSU in the lead. He is the guy you want to have the ball with the game on the line. Despite inconsistent play which is a hallmark for young quarterbacks, Russell in clutch in crunch time. Everyone else will just have to wait their turn to get under center.

It was nice to see Justin Vincent play well against Alabama. With Addai injured, Vincent is LSU’s #1 back for the foreseeable future. His numbers weren’t great, but he made plays when LSU needed him and he held on to the ball which was refreshing to say the least. The receiving corps is finally flourishing after struggling at times during the season. Dwayne Bowe is becoming the big game receiver we have been waiting for and there are no better hands on the team than Craig Davis.

The coaching staff also deserves big props. After struggling in the first half, the Tigers came out roaring in the second. LSU is getting a reputation for being very tough late in tight games. Pelini should get a big high five as well. After giving up 61 points in LSU’s first two games, the Tigers have given up 63 points in their last seven. Some may still be skeptical of Miles and even Jimbo Fisher, but the results can’t be argued with. In Saban’s 5 years in Baton Rouge, only once did he start a season 8-1; and he never defeated Alabama, Auburn and Florida in the same season.

The Tigers take on a weak Ole Miss team in Oxford this weekend. Look for the Rebels to keep it close for a half, but LSU will turn it on and win going away.

LSU 27 – Ole Miss 13

Good...Bad: Spur Dog Style

Good…Steve Spurrier. Without many great players, Spur Dog is one Georgia loss away from playing in the SEC Championship game. WOW!

Bad…Fat Fullmer, Urban Myth and Mark Richt are in trouble now that the ball coach is in town.

Good…Auburn comes up huge in a great game winning 31-30 at Georgia.

Bad…The Dawgs. Two losses in a row make a victory versus UK a must.

Good...Jill Arrington.

Bad...Where have you gone?

Good…The Big Eleven picture is clearer. PSU wins and they take home the hardware. Otherwise it will come down to the Suckeyes and Michigan.

Bad…Upstarts Wisconsin and Northwestern are close but not in the same league as the big boys.

Good…JoePa still kicking butt.

Bad…Bowden and the Criminoles keep slipping.

Good…The Golden Goofers are on their way to a nice finish and good bowl game.

Bad…The Less than Mighty Spartans. Talk about taking the term tailspin to a new level.

Good…Pac-10 football. UCLA 28- ASU 28…at the half.

Bad…The Sun Devils aren’t doing LSU and favors with the computers.

Good…The Contenders: USC and Texas

Bad…Poser Material: Alabama

Good…Saban is making some serious jack.

Bad…at 3-6 with the Dolphins, he can’t be having more fun than this time last year.

Good…“The First Crusade” by Thomas Asbridge. You should read and broaden your horizons.

Bad…More people have been killed in the name of “God”…

The Best…Going into someone else’s house and punking them out.

The Worst…The T.O. saga…‘nuff said.

Sunday, November 06, 2005

Tune Ups for Tide

Big blowouts usually don’t leave much to talk about and last Saturday’s blasting of North Texas and this weekend’s shut out of Appalachian State are no exceptions. The Tigers handled business and came away with resounding wins. LSU basically slept walked thru this Saturday’s game but a shut out is always nice and the Tigers moved on with out any injuries to the big showdown with Alabama.

All you are going to hear about this week is Alabama's defense. The Tide is #1 in the nation in scoring defense, #7 in rushing defense, #4 in passing defense and #3 in total defense. This is very impressive to say the least.

However, the numbers are misleading for the simple fact that Alabama hasn’t played anyone with an offense of note. The average scoring offense ranking of the Tide’s nine opponents is 86th. Of the Tide 9 opponents, 5 are ranked 103rd or worse in scoring offense. (Remember, there are only 117 teams in division I-A football.) The combined record of Alabama’s opponents is a paltry 32-41. (.438 winning percentage)

This is not to say that Alabama is not very good on defense. Rather, the Crimson Tide have yet to be tested by an offense as talented as LSU’s. After struggling early, JaMarcus Russell has settled down as of late. He has only one interception in his last 3 games and 4 TD’s over that same period. LSU has been battle tested playing ASU on the road and UT, Florida and Auburn at home. Outside of the Gators, Bama has played no one with any offensive firepower.

While the Tide’s defense has been solid, the offense has been putrid since losing Tyrone Prothro. Since losing the gamebreaking wideout in the Florida game, Alabama is averaging 12 points a game in SEC clashes. In those three games, the Tide has scored ONE offensive TD, and that was against lowly Ole Miss. While maybe not as dominating defensively as Bama, the Tigers have done very well this season. LSU ranks #16 against the run, #5 in pass efficiency defense, #12 in total defense, #6 in scoring defense and #3 in net punting.

Special teams and field position will be critical to this low scoring game. If the Tigers can make just a few plays on offense and hold on to the ball, LSU should win by at least a touchdown. The Tide just can’t score and that won’t change against LSU.

Tigers 20 – Tide 10.

Good...Bad

Good…Northwestern. Bowl bound again after a thrilling 4th quarter comeback against the Hawkeyes.

Bad…Iowa. I couldn’t have been happier as the Hawkeyes gave up 2 TD’s in the final 2 minutes of the game losing a heartbreaker.

Good…Purdue gets its first Big 11 win of the season.

Bad…The Less than Mighty Spartans have fallen apart since back to back loses to UM and OSU.

Good…THE U. Miami went into Blacksburg and destroyed a darn good Hokie team.

Bad…Virginia Tech’s Rose bowl hopes go down the toilet. I was sick of hearing about how great Marcus Vick was so this is actually a good thing.

Good…The Contenders: USC, Texas, and Alabama.

Bad…Poser Material. Va Tech and UCLA.

Good…Spur Dog. Over the last two weeks the Gamecocks have beaten both UT and the Hogs on the road.

Bad…Fulmer and Nutt need to update the resume.

Good…Arizona. Stoops needed a signature win and got one.

Bad…UCLA. How do you go 8-0 then not show up and get blown out by a team with a 2-6 record.

Good…Rock Chalk Jayhawk. Kansas beats Nebraska for the first time since the Johnson administration.

Bad…The Cornholers are getting what they deserved. After winning 9 games in 2003, Frank Solich was run off and replaced with this guy? The AD and Callahan better start updating their resumes as well.

Good…Freedom of Speech.

Bad…The left just doesn’t get it. The liberals in the country are all about being open minded except if you disagree with them. Then your ideas and beliefs are either uninformed, ignorant or hateful. The current foolishness on LSU’s campus is another example of the intolerance of the left. Many see this as a black versus white issue. In a sense it is, but in a much larger sense it is the left’s thought police on patrol in our universities.

The Best…After all the distractions and trauma the Tigers have experienced, LSU is poised to take firm control of the SEC West and a trip to Atlanta.

The Worst…Regret…regret…regret.