Well Jordan Jefferson is two of those three things... Big and fast. It's the dynamic part that he's yet to show. Big praise is coming from the LSU coaching staff about him coming out of Spring ball. Now that he finally has a OC that'll coach him up (Think Dennis Dixon's senior year when Chip Kelly came in for Crowton). I fully expect him to look nothing like he did last year. Will he have a Heisman type season like Dixon did? Unlikely, but I expect him to be much better than last year.
Funny, the book on defending LSU last year was to stack the run and dare Jefferson to throw. You don't think Oregon will do that? LSU is going to be very strong on both lines. OL effectiveness will be an early test for both teams. Uhh, that's OK. LSU has won 2 recent national championships with ball-control offenses. It's not about increasing the tempo, Hoss, it's about controlling the tempo. Until you meet a contender like Auburn. Well, I think that there are several ways to beat any team including the Ducks. You know, we play Auburn, Alabama, and Florida every single year. We're not exactly sagging to our knees in fear of Oregon. You are not unbeatable.
Oregon may win, but 175 yards on the ground AND 250 through the air??? WONT HAPPEN! Im not saying Oregon cant win, but if you need those stats to pull off a W, you guys are in trouble, Just Sayin.... It will be fun
I think containing the LSU running game is crucial, I was just making a point about last years games. We must stop the power run. If LSU is able to pound the ball on us, I think were dead ducks. I like to think JJ isn't the quarterback we fear. I'm confident Oregon's D line will do well, I fear the O line will not be ready by the LSU game. Hyper speed tempo brings magical advantages, you'll see. Auburn, ugh. I would like to replay that game! 70% of normal offense was my key qualifier, using 50 points a game as our standard. 35 points should beat LSU. Unbeatable....of course not, I was pulling you Tiger's tail a little with that line. :yelwink2:
Well, you may be, but with the amount of time LSU is going to hog the ball on Offense, and as stout as our Defense will be, I don’t see that type of yardage being put up on us. And by no means am I worried about Oregon's up tempo offense, Too many high caliber athletes down in Baton Rouge to be concerned with conditioning. In fact, Oregon should be extremely happy that this game will more than likely be played with the roof at Jerry's world closed, because it’s a whole other monster playing in the heat and humidity of the South in the month of August. Hell I could be wrong, so could you, it’s only July. But for the most part, I see 2 areas of concern for LSU 1) QB - What will JJ do - Million Dollar Question 2) LB - I’m not concerned with our defensive push up front and not concerned with our secondary, I think pound for pound we may possibly have the best secondary in the country, it’s the LB's I am very concerned with. Both teams have some holes to fill from last year’s roster. Both teams have some questions at some key positions.
I havent really gotten involved with Game 1 yet. How does your defense look coming back? 35 points IMHO is only possible if Oregon gets a defensive or Special Teams TD, I just dont see you guys having your way with Our defense like that. Speaking of SP, LSU is quite prepared on special teams, both sides of the ball.
I was just trying to stir things up by being cocky. Actually the Tiger game worries the hell out of me. Sultry heat and humidity, sucks the energy right out of me, and probably won't help the Ducks either. Oregon has a sealed indoor practice field, where they can adjust the humidity and temp. But, I doubt that would prepare them effectively for the real deal. I hope Jerry keeps the roof closed. I wouldn't disregard the part Oregon's tempo could play. Tennessee fans thought their sultry conditions would hurt the Ducks, and believed the tempo would be irrelevant. They were wrong, Tennessee was totally gassed by the end of the first half. They couldn't keep up. Concerning the Duck's defense, last year the Ducks rotated 23 players on defense. I've heard, this year the expectation is to rotate about 19. The Ducks have better athletes this year, but we graduated, arguably our best linebacker, and our best QB rusher. The Duck's secondary should be excellent, but there is an open position. Our LB's were going to be awesome, but an expected starter has gotten into trouble, whether Kiko Alonso plays at all this season is still up in the air. Cliff Harris has settled his traffic ticket problems, and is back working with the team, but he's suspended for the LSU game. Still, our defense is expected to be very good, perhaps the Duck's strongest suit. The offense is my concern. The Duck's have to rebuild their line. There's a lot of returning experiance, but I'm very nervous about how ready they will be for the Tigers. I don't like hearing about LSU's excellent secondary, as the Ducks are a little short on experienced receivers. There is high potential, but again, how effective will they be during the first game of the year? A while to go before camps open, can't hardly wait to see how things develop. In Chip I trust!
(Snap)We've gone around on this before. Oregon's fast tempo on offense IS controlling the tempo. It's also controlling the defensive substitutions (or the lack of). Trust me, the big heavies on the defensive line will start sucking wind if they have to go 10 plays in 2 to 2 and a half minutes without a substitution. We saw it happen all last year. (Snap) It got to the point that teams (ASU, Stanford, Cal, AZ, Tenn) were faking injuries to stop the clock and make substitutions, and get their guys water. You can believe what you want, but 300 pound linemen get winded quickly. All it takes is one small breakdown (Which the O-line is constantly looking for), (Snap) and Oregon will exploit it. Btw, in the time it took you to read this, Oregon snapped the ball 3 times. Now read it again running to one side of the house and back three times. Are you winded yet?
I heard the practice facility goes up to 95 degrees and 85% humidity. I'm sure Chip will have them in a sweat box, just in case. This was the biggest part of that win last year. Sure it's UT, but it's still SEC talent, which for the most part trumps every other conferences talent. UT's D-line and linebackers were gassed before halftime. Their D-linemen were begging our offense to go easy. Chip called in the reserves early in the forth quarter, and slowed the tempo, so that score could have been a lot worse. Even with 2 of Oregon's linebackers graduating, Josh Kaddu is on the Butkus watch list, and Boseko Lokombo tore it up in the spring game. As for our DE's, Rowe was a monster, but I believe Dion Jordan will do much the same. He's taller and faster than Rowe was, which will help a ton when Oregon shows 4-3 then drops into a 3-4. My concern is how the new receivers will do in the running game (i.e. blocking downfield). Maehl and Davis were so good at that, and is a key to successful stretch runs and bubble screens. I think our receivers will do well as far as getting open, and catching the ball in traffic. Darron Thomas has improved so much on his midrange passes, that with our WR's LT, Huff, Hoffman and our TE's Brandon Williams and David Paulson, the defense will have to pick their poison as far as who they cover. I'm sure it'll be a DC nightmare preparing for Oregon.
