“We’re taking it one game at a time.” “We’re focusing on the task at hand.” “We can’t fall into the trap of looking ahead.” All are quotes likely to be heard from any coach or player in the country if asked about a big game on the schedule later in the year. All were said by LSU players and coaches this week with any mention of the name Auburn. Fortunately, journalists and fans can enjoy the game at hand and also afford to look ahead just a little bit. The Auburn-LSU game has only decided the SEC Western Division champion and representative in the SEC Championship game the past three seasons. So I’ll just have to ask coach Les Miles to forgive me for overlooking an Arizona team which finished last season with eight losses, six of which were in the WACK-10, excuse me PAC-10, and squeaked out a win against Brigham Young University last weekend by three points. After playing an opening game against a listless University of Louisiana at Lafayette team, it is still tough to decipher what aspects of LSU’s team will be its strengths and weaknesses. Here are four things LSU fans should look for to gauge the team’s progress from week one and readiness for a game which in the third week, could decide the SEC West. Why four? Because I couldn’t think of five. 1) A Win With all of the Pac-10 and Arizona ribbing aside, this is a Division-I team led by a good coach in Mike Stoops, and the first priority is simply to win the game. Nothing will spoil a potential division deciding game worse than a loss to a weaker opponent the week before. Although Arizona struggled to score points in its season opener, it has an offense, led by sophomore quarterback Willie Tuitama and senior receiver Syndric Steptoe, which has the potential to effectively move the ball downfield.
2) A consistent running game LSU racked up 170 yards rushing against ULL, but most of it came in the second half, with the reserves going against a worn out ULL defense. LSU managed only 22 rushing yards in the first half from Justin Vincent and Jacob Hester, the top two tailbacks on the depth chart. Whatever the reason for the first-half deficiencies in the running game, be it the play calling, offensive line play, ULL defense or the running backs’ vision, it would go a long way to get it going early against the Wildcats. If not, it would still be nice for Miles and his staff to at least know his team may not be able to run the ball efficiently. Then they could change their offensive game plan against Auburn accordingly.
3) The young guys There were 11 true freshmen who saw action against ULL, and with the new rule changes made to speed up the game, do not expect it to happen again. Miles said with 21 seniors graduating he would need some freshmen to step up this year in SEC play. A good indication of who those freshman will be are the ones who will play against Arizona. It is tough enough for a freshman to make the transition from the high school to the college game. But to ask them to play their first extended minutes on the road at Auburn in front of 87,000 and against the No. 4 team in the nation is almost too much. Look at the freshmen who take the field Saturday, watch how long they are in the game and how well they play. The play of those freshmen will be key this season as Miles will have to count on them to play important minutes.
4) The passing game Junior quarterbacks JaMarcus Russell, Matt Flynn, freshman Ryan Perrilloux and the LSU offense carved up the ULL defense to the tune of 299 passing yards. An impressive performance, but if you consider that the Ragin’ Cajuns are a Sun Belt team, which consistently implemented eight-man defensive fronts and blitzed every down, that type of result should be expected from a team of LSU’s caliber. Arizona’s defense will not be mistaken for the Miami Dolphins any time soon, or even the Miami Hurricanes for that matter, but it will present a better measuring stick for a passing attack which had its way with ULL. If the passing game can carry the fluidity it had last weekend into Saturday’s contest against Arizona, the Tigers will bring one of the more impressive passing attacks in the nation into Jordan-Hare Stadium for the showdown against Auburn.
—–Contact Jeff Martin at [email protected]