Best wishes for a safe & joyous holiday...

from a Sooner on the Texas Riviera.

This board was tauted to me by BayouTider. I have been posting over on Tidefans for a couple of years now, since right before our home/home started in Sept. of '02.

Let me preface my comments by saying I'm a life long Sooner fan but also a life long fan of college football.

I suppose that all the vitriol flying back & forth between Bayou Bengal fans & Sooners is to be expected. Both fan bases are certainly rabid & obviously, this game is for all the marbles (not withstanding the outcome of the Rose Bowl).

Personally, I don't think any of the 3 teams now in contention for the NC have to be defensive about their respective legitimacy relative to winning it all. Each team stubbed it's preverbial toe once, so in essence, all three had a chance to control destiny & simply didn't.

Relative strength of schedule, conference ratings, & comparative scores are all pretty much irrelevant. They way I see it, if you play major D-1 football & win more than you lose, you're probably pretty good.

I think the Sugar Bowl will hinge on a handful of key issues, any one of which could go either way. The issues, in no order of importance but all equally meaningful are:

* Can L.S.U. stuff O.U.'s running game & make us totally one-demensional? This is somewhat misleading in that we do not run to set up the pass but pass to set up the run. Therefore, our running success is directly tied to another key issue...

* Can O.U. protect JW & give him time to throw? If not, forget issue one.

* Can L.S.U. establish a physical, assaulting running attack that negates our team speed on D? Conventional wisdom says that to have success against our D, you must run right @ us.

* Both teams must tackle well. Open field tackling is somewhat of a lost art & with the skill talent possessed by both teams, open field, one on one tackling is imperative or YAC's will be huge.

* Oklahoma must have put the Big 12 Championship game completely out of it's mind & L.S.U. must keep it's mindset on an even, businesslike keel & not let the emotions of the moment make them too fired up.

* Field position & the ability to take advantage of it will be critical & there's a direct relationship between field position & turnovers. Whichever team wins the early field position battle must exploit it & not let such opportunities slip away.

* I don't see the crowd being a factor, one way or the other. Both squads are seasoned & have played regularly in bigtime, hostile environments.

*Finally, look for an unexpected occurence & or unexpected player to be pivotal. One team will do something or let something happen that will be totally out of character & ultimately decide the outcome of this game. Making plays is the key & both teams have big time playmakers who must step up. This will be contest of big plays that will decide the outcome.

I will be back to give some incite on this Sooner squad & it's strengths & what we must do to win & what it'll take to beat us. This game is the essence of what makes college football what it is. Speaking as a Sooner, we're honored to be a part of it. In our long & storied history, we've played in alot of games like this. We've won some & lost some but the real statisfaction, win or lose, is to be able to embrace the moment & live in the pageantry of this great game. An L.S.U/O.U. matchup for the title of #1 is as big as it gets. BayouTider can tell you, when I heard the MDB play Yea Alabama @ Owen Field in Sept. of '02, it was an experience I'll never forget. We should all be grateful to fans of programs that give us the opportunity to be a part of college football history. Win or lose, it's better to be between the linse than on the sidelines.

 

Yeah, give us insight but don't incite .

 

Sabanfan, sorry for the miscue. There are several typos in my post. When I get rolling sometimes I overlook such mistakes. You might want to consider that approach as well. Every board has it's share of "word police". Frankly, if I spent all my time correcting people's posts, I'd never fully comprehend the essence of the post itself.

I'll try to do better next time. You'd think an English major would be beyond such foibles. Maybe I've lived in Texas too long. If I use "fixin' " in future posts, don't get upset. Surely you Cajuns have incorporated it into their venacular.

 

Actually, I thought your post was very well stated and quite intelligent.
You Sooners need to get a sense of humor. I was kidding around with the play on words. Another OU fan, OhioSooner got all flustered over a little bit of sarcasm earlier. Look, we know you guys are not used to being nervous about an upcoming opponent so we'll try and cut you a little slack.

 

Actually, the most annoying "word police" I encounter are on certain Sooner Boards. I'm going to wait a couple of days before I come back with a critique of this edition of Sooner football. One thing I should say though is that my comments will not be based on a "HOMER" attitude but only from the perspective of a life long fan who knows more about us than any opponent we might encounter. I see the weaknesses & the strengths in all their unvarnished glory. It 's a lot of fun to get this type of discussion going & be able to eliminate the prejudices incumbent with the overall fan base. Obviously, we can be beat. Just as obviously, we are very good. What to look for when we're on the field, particularly when you have not seen us on a regular basis, can help understand how the game on the 4th might evolve.

I wish we had a playoff but this is the next best thing. The only better scenario would have been a shot at the "Left Coast" wannabes. I would have been alot more confident in a victory with SC than I am with the Bayou Bengals.

 

Amen, bro. LSU is the one team we did NOT want to play for the NC, but we will be bringing it, nevertheless. This will be a great game, one for the ages and everyone should tape it. You will be replaying this game on tape 20 years from now.

 

I think the real key to the game is the line. In the trenches who will dominate. You touched on it slighty. Who's line can push who off the ball? Who has the size, speed and strength to do that? Another key will be no mistakes, any mistakes will be deadly. You ask can the OU line protect JW? That is a key for the OU offense. Can the OU defense smoother the LSU run? That will be a key to your defense setting up your offesne.

I think at first the OU defense will come out pumped and LSU probably won't have many long gains on the ground. I look for a defensive struggle the first half, BUT THEN as your defense wears down in the second half look for the LSU offense to open up BIG holes for our backs. Some would say well that works both ways but The thing is our DEFENSE will wear you down. If a first half defensive struggle takes place JW MAY not be sturdy enough ( not hurt just rattled ) to be effective during the game.

Now I know we all want to dismiss the KSU game, but things don't change overnight and all the greatest coaching in the world can't make a QB's legs UN wobbly when he is hit constantly. The LSU offensive line is among the best in the nation. Oh sure ya'll are going to get some damn good defensive plays no doubt, especially in the first half, but on a few of those occasions Clayton will be open, Devry will be on a post route, Skylar will be open across the deep middle. Look for Justin to score the points in the second half.

I truly belive OU is a good team, I also truly believe UGA was just as good. The BIGGEST thing the OU team is trying to tell themselves and the nation is that KSU was a fluke. I really hope they do that because KSU was no fluke, those guys are GOOD. No disrespect intended to OU. What LSU needs to do in this mind game before the NC game is LISTEN to coach Saban and they have done that for the last 7 games in a row.
LSU is for real this year folks 2004 Its time. finally it's time!
GEAUX TIGERS
HEy have a great new year !

 

Good Post....but

I beg to differ on the crowd issue. I see the crowd being a major factor.


:lsug: :lsug: :lsug: :lsug: :lsug:

 

tigerfan75,
First let me say to our Sooner friend, very good post. I tried to post something similar on an OU board about LSU and got mostly Ramah-like responses.
I've been trying to tell these people up here about the noise we as Tiger fans are famous for, but they just won't listen! They keep trying to compare us to A&M or Nebraska or the Fla. St. crowd from the 2000 Orange Bowl. They just refuse to accept the fact that we can MOVE THE EARTH when we yell and that we CAN AFFECT the opposing team with the volume of noise we create! After all, they heard it from the greatest coach on earth, Bob Stoops himself!
Frankly, I'm tired of trying. Just let them come on down and find out for themselves. Maybe when they go back home and can't hear for three or four days, then they'll believe us.



GEAUX TIGERS!!!!!



LSU, 2003 TEAM OF DESTINY!!!!!


2003 CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP, GOT ONE?