Ryan Brumley, Sports Showtime Director
After a dominating defeat of the Oregon Ducks this past Saturday, the Tigers kickoff their first of six home games against in-state rival Northwestern St. While the season-opening victory vaulted LSU to number two in the coaches poll, the Tigers still have a long season ahead of them. In order to get their second win of the season, Tiger TV reporters broke down last week’s footage and established 5 keys to victory for Saturday night.
1. Set The Tone Early.
Despite LSU’s out of conference winning streak that stretches 34 games all the way back to 2002, the Tigers have struggled with putting away lesser opponents early in ball games. For example, last season against McNeese, LSU went into halftime only leading by a score of 16-10. Though the Cowboys didn’t score for the rest of the game, letting an inferior opponent stick around is always a recipe for disaster. LSU had similar issues with in state-rival ULL who only trailed by 2 touchdowns at the half when they visited Death Valley in 2009. Les Miles and his football team needs to learn a lesson from other big programs and dominate weaker squads from the opening whistle.
2. Pound the Rock
In the 2003 and 2007 national title seasons, LSU had an identity of running the football with a combination of running backs. In 2003, the tandem was Justin Vincent, Joe Addai and Alley Broussard. In 2007, Jacob Hester, Charles Scott and Keiland Williams shared the load. In 2011, the Tigers have found a power/finesse combination in sophomore Spencer Ware and Michael Ford who combined for 195 on 44 carries last Saturday. Ware had the majority of the rushes with 28 to Ford’s 16, but look for that number to balance out in this week’s contest. Also, if the Tigers take an early lead, Coach Miles could try out new players at running back, which transitions well into our next key.
3. Find New Weapons
Only Deangleo Peterson had more than 10 yards receiving against Oregon. Rueben Randle was effective with a touchdown and drawing two pass interference penalties, but needs to play a bigger role in the offense as the seasons goes along. Look for freshman Odell Beckham and sophomore Kadron Boone to get more balls thrown their way during the game to give them more confidence going into marquee SEC matchups. If one of those two can put together a big game, that would be huge for the LSU offense going forward, especially as Russell Sheppard returns to the fold against West Virginia when he finishes a three game suspension.
4. Improved Quarterback Play
While Jarrett Lee had a solid performance the season opener, 10-22 with one touchdown is not exactly stellar. Jarrett Lee can go a long way towards silencing his haters by having a strong game against the Demons. Also, fans are eagerly awaiting the on field debut of Zach Mettenberger, highly anticipated transfer from the University of Georgia. If the score becomes largely in LSU’s favor, look for the crowd to chant for the sophomore. Whether Les decides to oblige them, however, will be the interesting thing to watch for.
5. Dominant Defense
LSU’s defense was the star of Saturday’s contest against Oregon, holding Heisman hopeful LaMichael James to 54 yards on the ground while also forcing three turnovers. Tyrann Mathieu was named the Jim Thorpe defensive back of the week. The defense will be the backbone of this team all season long so a great performance from them is always important moving forward. Look for defensive coordinator John Chavis to use more linebackers and less nickel and dime packages, to help prepare for the power running attacks of the SEC.
You can watch Sports Showtime Tuesdays at 4:30 on campus channel 75. Also follow us on twitter at twitter.com/ttv_sports
Contact Ryan Brumley at [email protected]
