No problem Okie. It was fun holding the mighty Mizzou Tigers to just One TD after all that trash talk about giving us the game earlier in the season. I wish it was LSU/OU in the NC game, but we had our chance and blew it. Sucks that a team that doesn't even have to play in a CCG gets to go, but that's the NCAA for you. Congrats to you guys. I hope Dorsey is back 100% healthy for you guys. I can't wait to watch the game.
I hear you and good luck. BTW, the only saving grace to the CCG dilemma, in my mind at least, is that at least tOSU won their conference outright. Meanwhile, Mark Richt and Jawjuh seems to be supremely pissed that they were left out. Amazing. They didn't even win their division, let alone the Conference. Using Jawjuh's logic, Kansas might have a better case for the MNC than the 'dawgs. :lol:
5.5 is nothing Granny Lou on ESPN's BCS show tonight said tOSU would win by 14 :insane: :lol: :insane: :lol: :insane:
I expect the story to be much the same as last year, with the OSU quarterback running for his life. The only differences will be the color of the jerseys and the fact that New Orleans is a far better place to celebrate than Arizona. Geaux Tigers! Go SEC!
I have been researching key statistical categories of the two teams and here is my take. I believe that any category in which there is less than a 10 position difference should be considered even. Comments welcomed. Rushing Offense LSU - #12 OSU - #20 Advantage - LSU Passing Offense LSU - #53 OSU - #87 Advantage - LSU Total Offense LSU -#21 OSU - #58 Advantage - LSU Scoring Offense LSU - #12 OSU - #36 Advantage - LSU Rushing Defense OSU - #3 LSU - #14 Advantage - OSU Passing Defense OSU - #1 LSU - #9 Advanage - Even Total Defense OSU - #1 LSU - #3 Advantage - Even Scoring Defense OSU - #1 LSU - #20 Advantage - OSU Turnover Margin LSU - #5 OSU - #64 Advantage - LSU Special Teams: Advantage - OSU Net Punting OSU - #36 LSU - #55 Advantage - OSU Punt Returns OSU - #60 LSU - #106 Advantage - OSU Kickoff Returns LSU - #88 OSU - #117 Advantage - LSU 3rd Down Conversion % OSU - #12 LSU - #22 Advantage - OSU 4th Down Conversion % LSU - #2 OSU - #19 Advantage - LSU Passing Efficiency OSU - #14 LSU - #43 Advantage - OSU Time of Possession OSU - #6 LSU - #9 Advantage - Even Prediction: LSU by 6
Good info. However, I would say anything with 10 points/ranking difference or less would be called even. Rushing Offense - Their is a difference of 8 points/rankings. You give the advantage to LSU Passing Defense - Their is a difference of 8 points/ranking, and you say it is even. Besides that, I like it. Just my 2 cents. (not that anybody really cares)
Question is, has OSU played strong enough offenses to cause us to worry about their defensive stats. I'm not saying they haven't, but based on their relatively weak strength of schedule compared to LSU, I wonder. That's going to be the focus of my reading/surfing for the next week. Just a quick look reveals that the Buckeyes held down a group of weak teams (Youngstown State, Akron, Northwestern, Minnesota, Purdue, Kent State, and (gasp) Michigan. Stronger teams (none ranked higher at this time than Illinois at 13) averaged about 19 ppg against the Buckeyes and about 295 yards of offense. (Washington, Michigan State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Illinois). That's a bit different than their season stats of 10 points and 225 yards. Of course, my point being the point spread may be spurious for this game. When I have some time, I'll purge LSU's weak opponents (LA Tech, MTSU, Tulane, Ole Miss, etc) and see where that puts the comparison. Bottom line - I'm getting the feeling that the Buckeye defense is on par with LSU, but not as dominant as their schedule has allowed them to look.
