I know its a bit early to be looking that far ahead, but I'm just curious if anyone knows what Oregon is losing after this season? Is their Offense expecting a bit hit with loss of seniors or NFL prospects? I hate to criticize the Athletic Dept, but scheduling Oregon the 1st game of the season is a really dangerous move for both teams. Its a big gamble, but I guess thats who we've become. With Oregon ( at a neutral ) and West Virginia ( away ), our OOC schedule can't really be brought into question. I think that's one reason that we really have a great chance to bring it all home. I know that we are losing some amazing players.......Peterson, Nevis, etc.......but: 1. We don't seem to be losing that many players 2. We had great depth this season and alot of younger players got good experience 3. We also have some young standouts ( new recruits, redshirts ) who are also expected to be damn good. 4. We have another entire offseason for the QB's to improve ( + Mettenberger ) I tell you one thing, the coached need to have our D-Line ( and the entire team, but the line in particular ) running wind sprints every single day this off-season. Oregon beats people with their speed, but often with their endurance. Many teams hold on till the 3rd or 4th qtr, but then the consistent speed and tempo overwhelms their conditioning. So, what do you think of the matchup? Good call thats going to make us look great when we win? Too dangerous?
It's a great move. We finish this season strong and then start the season ranked top 5, we then go beat Ore, who will probably be in the MNC, on a national stage, yeh strong statement.
We've got Arky next week then hopfuly a BCS bowl. Let's take care of these, then talk about next season.
I knew someone would say this...........Seriously, do you think that us talking about next season is going to make the team forget about Arky and the bowl and make us lose? Is it going to jinx us? Does whether we win or lose those two games change anything about the Oregon game? We aren't players. We aren't coaches. We are fans, and this is a discussion board. Here, we discuss.......and if that involves whether it was a good choice to schedule the #1 BCS team for our first opponent on a neutral field next year, I can't see why we need to pucker up our *******s and say "Oh no, we can't talk about that until this season is over" I even prefaced the thread saying I knew it was 8-9 months away, but us focusing intently on nothing more than the very next game on the schedule doesn't make our team any better or any worse. Why do people always have to comment when they have nothing productive to say. If people don't want to discuss something, the thread will quickly slip into TigerForums oblivion.
It's worrisome because that type of offense gives us fits. Masoli came from that same offense just last year.
It's risky, but if you want to win the MNC (for that matter to win over the voters to even get to play in it) you've got to take some risks. There's a growing "hate" for the SEC amongst some of the media and voters. Not everyone wants to see a Conference Dynasty. Therefore, it looks like LSU, Bama and maybe a few others are trying to get ahead of the wave and schedule AQ OOC opponents to solidify their resume's. Also, Oregon knows they have a conference strength problelm now that USC may be down and adding Colorado was a joke. Another reason, $$$$$$$$. Win or lose, it's going to be a huge payday for both teams. One more reason; Both teams, especially LSU, should get a huge recrutiting boost from playing in Jerry's World. The buzz surrounding that game is going to be fantastic!
This is very true as we've seen with AU and OM, but CJC and CLM will have 8-9 months to figure out how to coach a very talented and experienced D on stopping that type of O attack. I would also say that Ore O, although impressive, hasn't had to face the types of D that AU has. AU's performance against our's and the rest of the SEC's D's is more of an actual measuring stick. Not Ore's which has gone up against D's ranked around 60 or worse.
College Player Database - Depth Chart From their current two-deeps, it looks like they will lose five on offense and 6 on defense, plus their kicker.
As for scheduling tough opponents early in the season, Miles and the Ath Dept aren't afraid to take this risk, as they have been doing it for yrs. As mentioned if you want to get to the MNC starting off putting it all on the line can be a big SOS against OOC feather in the cap. Although it hasn't helped as much this season, as it is almost as if the talking heads forget we played UNC, WVU, and MSU, all that were ranked at some point.
Eehhhh, I was hoping for more than that on Offense. I think our speed on Offense and our running game will be able to put points up on their D, but I'm worried that if we don't slow the game down, convert TD's in the Red Zone, and dominate TOP, then they will win a TD battle........same way I feel about Arky this week. I really think we will need to go in with a lead at halftime. I know the SEC is going to be tough again next year, they always are. Auburn may drop back down, but someone will take their place. The Oregon game, tho, is the first OOC game that I've become seriously worried about in a LONG time.
