Collage of the little ladies enjoying their summer!
.jpg)
Unafraid Anonymous Emails #9
6 years ago
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Oregon/LSU Pre-game Notes
1. This game will be decided by Oregon’s interior offensive lineman versus LSU’s young defensive tackles. For anyone who watched the BCS title game you’ll know that Nick Fairly’s ability to penetrate the interior of Oregon’s offensive line caused the Ducks a ton of problems in the run game and made them one dimensional. To Oregon’s advantage Auburn’s shaky secondary gave up a large number of yards to Darron Thomas and company but Chip Kelly perhaps stuck with the run a little too long. LSU is pretty young at DT and as far as we know doesn’t have anyone who is at the level (yet . . . true freshman Anthony Johnson may turn in to a Nick Fairly type player but I am not expecting it in his first college game). Oregon is replacing 3 offensive line starters yes however the only truly green player on the line will be Hroniss Grasu who has earned the starting center position after a very tough fall competition with both Hamani Stevens and Kerrington Armstrong. Most folks are pointing to having to replace Jeff Maehl as Oregon’s biggest question mark but I think replacing Jordan Holmes is bigger. Because Oregon takes virtually every snap from the shotgun Grasu is going to need to concentrate on getting off the snaps correctly every time while still dealing with some very talented young defensive tackles.
2. I see both Jarrett Lee and Terrance Mitchell being challenged early. Despite all the memories many fans around the nation have of Jarrett Lee throwing 7 pick sixes as a freshman he was a fairly accurate thrower in his junior year. 89 passes with only 1 interception shows that he can be an accurate thrower. He won’t be asked to throw the ball 40 times to win, what he we will be asked to is make 7-10 key throws throughout the course of a game to extend drives. I think Oregon will try to sell out to the run early and this will give Jarrett Lee a chance to go deep with a play action attempt perhaps on the first or second drive. Look for LSU to test Terrance Mitchell early as Cliff Harris will not be playing. If Jarrett Lee can throw at the 65% completion rate on say 24 attempts I think that LSU will likely win the game.
3.Who do the intangibles favor? LSU played their last game in Dallas so the whole “huge video screen” factor should not be a problem for them, could it distract Oregon? I think the turf favors Oregon a bit as LSU doesn’t often play on that surface but LSU played there last year in the Cotton Bowl so it is mitigated a bit. Fan wise I am expecting a more than 2 to 1 advantage for LSU, the stadium will be loud the beer will be flowing and you can expect 50K+ crazy LSU fans to do their best to disrupt the Oregon offense. Oregon has been no stranger to controversy over the last few seasons so I am not expecting the Willie Lyles/Kiki Alonzo/ Cliff Harris dramas to really have any effect on the team. LSU however has kept their nose surprisingly clean the last few years before the bar brawl. Will they be able to handle the media scrutiny and will Lee be accepted as a team leader in place of Jefferson? Finally will the roof be open? Oregon’s players are not used the humidity so I think they’d prefer a closed roof situation while LSU would prefer it to be open and for it to be a muggy night.
4.27 Points. If the winner of this game has 27 points or more I’d expect that winner to be Oregon. If it is less than I see LSU winning. The Tigers will try to eat up clock and ideally get an early lead and kill clock. Oregon’s habit of slow starts on offense before bowl games and early season games versus decent (ie non New Mexico) could cost them yet again in this game. Going back to Kelly’s time as an OC the Ducks have struggled in the first half on offense in games with long layoffs before them. LSU has the best defense that Oregon has likely faced in Kelly’s time so if the Ducks aren’t crisp on offense early it is going to put some massive pressure on Oregon’s defense to keep the score close until the offense can find it’s rhythm. In the end I think Les Miles finds a way to win this won in a game that will remind many of the BCS Title Game. LSU 24-UO 22.
2. I see both Jarrett Lee and Terrance Mitchell being challenged early. Despite all the memories many fans around the nation have of Jarrett Lee throwing 7 pick sixes as a freshman he was a fairly accurate thrower in his junior year. 89 passes with only 1 interception shows that he can be an accurate thrower. He won’t be asked to throw the ball 40 times to win, what he we will be asked to is make 7-10 key throws throughout the course of a game to extend drives. I think Oregon will try to sell out to the run early and this will give Jarrett Lee a chance to go deep with a play action attempt perhaps on the first or second drive. Look for LSU to test Terrance Mitchell early as Cliff Harris will not be playing. If Jarrett Lee can throw at the 65% completion rate on say 24 attempts I think that LSU will likely win the game.
3.Who do the intangibles favor? LSU played their last game in Dallas so the whole “huge video screen” factor should not be a problem for them, could it distract Oregon? I think the turf favors Oregon a bit as LSU doesn’t often play on that surface but LSU played there last year in the Cotton Bowl so it is mitigated a bit. Fan wise I am expecting a more than 2 to 1 advantage for LSU, the stadium will be loud the beer will be flowing and you can expect 50K+ crazy LSU fans to do their best to disrupt the Oregon offense. Oregon has been no stranger to controversy over the last few seasons so I am not expecting the Willie Lyles/Kiki Alonzo/ Cliff Harris dramas to really have any effect on the team. LSU however has kept their nose surprisingly clean the last few years before the bar brawl. Will they be able to handle the media scrutiny and will Lee be accepted as a team leader in place of Jefferson? Finally will the roof be open? Oregon’s players are not used the humidity so I think they’d prefer a closed roof situation while LSU would prefer it to be open and for it to be a muggy night.
4.27 Points. If the winner of this game has 27 points or more I’d expect that winner to be Oregon. If it is less than I see LSU winning. The Tigers will try to eat up clock and ideally get an early lead and kill clock. Oregon’s habit of slow starts on offense before bowl games and early season games versus decent (ie non New Mexico) could cost them yet again in this game. Going back to Kelly’s time as an OC the Ducks have struggled in the first half on offense in games with long layoffs before them. LSU has the best defense that Oregon has likely faced in Kelly’s time so if the Ducks aren’t crisp on offense early it is going to put some massive pressure on Oregon’s defense to keep the score close until the offense can find it’s rhythm. In the end I think Les Miles finds a way to win this won in a game that will remind many of the BCS Title Game. LSU 24-UO 22.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
