:geaux: Amen!! :rofl: A lot of folks can say that this year as compared to the last few. :thumb: I definitely want to see this trend continue. For the sake of all those liver's out there. :hihi: :LSU231:
the last time Tennessee faced the #1 team was in 2009, when they faced #1 Alabama (7-0). Tennessee, coached by Lane Kiffin, ended up with a 7-6 record that year (4-4 in the SEC) and Bama was favored to beat them by 15 (LSU is currently favored by 16). Tennessee showed up to play and gave Bama it's biggest scare of their 14-0 national championship season. The Vols outgained Alabama 341 yards to 256, and Bama was held without an offensive touchdown for the first time since 2007. one of the biggest reasons Bama won was because Terrance Cody blocked two Tennessee FGs in the fourth quarter, including one on the final play of the game. Bama ended up winning by 2 points, 12-10. before that game, Bama had beaten all their SEC opponents by 2 or more TDs: Arkansas by 28, Ole Miss by 19, Kentucky by 18, and S Carolina by 14. like Saban said after the game, "You talk about how fragile a season is ... That's how fragile a season can be."
YUP .... And Sims, while not being a superstar, is no freshman QB who's never played before. He has the potential to set that team on fire. ... relatively speaking. I don't think CLM is going to underestimate them. CLM will play his game .... eat up the clock, score on every drive, and force their offense to be one dimensional to increase the propability of turnovers. However, if the numbers end up consistent with what LSU has done this year .. calculated with Bray as QB ... LSU wins 35-14. With Sims, it could be less, could be more ...ya just don't know. The thing we have going for us is TN doesn't have a very well developed run game. That makes turning them one dimensional easier ... and the favor goes to the Honey Badger.
LOL as a picker I do request 4 you Just for you , [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMv8ZhIKHcY&feature=related]Pride of the Southland Marching Band/Rocky Top - YouTube[/ame] But I like this better ,[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBCeaBRTOnM"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBCeaBRTOnM[/ame] GEAUX TIGERS !!!!
My concerns are not anything to do with talent or coaching; the Tigers are superior in both areas. The only concern I have is playing a big time SEC road game. The WV game was a good prep for this game (and a more hostile crowd) and I expect LSU to pass this test with flying colors. :helmet:
unlike Florida, who had to throw a freshman at us, Tennessee is blessed to have a senior like Simms as their back-up. a big plus with Simms is that he isn't the gunslinger Bray is, who is young and still forces things and trusts his arm too much. Simms should be more likely to keep mistakes to a minimum also, Simms has all the tools to be a great QB, he got rave reviews last time he was at the Manning Passing Academy, ESPN's Chris Mortensen called him the "wow guy" and everybody raved about his arm strength and accuracy. now that's he's been given a second chance to be the #1 during his last year at Tennessee, I wouldn't be surprised to see him step up and play great, especially since he is surrounded by great weapons their #1 WR is soph Da’Rick Rogers (6-3, 215), and he's like AJ Green Part II. He was a 5-star recruit (Top 10 on the Rivals100), Parade All-American, Under Armour All-American, named top athlete in the 2010 Under Armour All-America Game, and set the Georgia state record for a season with 1,641 yards and 22 touchdowns as a senior in high school (had 1,300 yards and 11 touchdowns the season before that). so far this season, he has a whooping 513 yards in 5 games (102.6 ypg), which is #2 in the SEC behind Arkansas' Jarius Wright (110.8 ypg). Rueben Randle is #3 with 74.3 ypg their TE, junior Mychal Rivera (a transfer from the Oregon Ducks), is currently the #1 TE in the SEC in receiving yards (including 71 vs FL and 85 vs GA) their #2 WR was Justin Hunter, who recently tore his ACL and is out for the season. his replacement is junior Zach Rogers who is a speedster (averaging 14.50 yards/catch this year and 14.79 last year). he had scholarships offers to Alabama, South Carolina, Auburn, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Stanford, etc they also have star freshman WR DeAnthony Arnett (U.S. Army All-American, ESPNU 150, Rivals 100, Sporting News Top 100). he had 8 catches for 59 yards vs Florida at RB, they have a good one in senior Tauren Poole, who rushed for over 1,000 yards last season. but he's questionable after tweaking his hamstring recently. backing him up is 5'11, 210 soph Rajion Neal (Rivals 150, #9 RB, offers to Florida State, Penn State, etc), and 6-0, 210 freshman Marlin Lane Jr. (ESPN 150, Sporting News Top 100, offers to Bama, Florida State, Southern Cal, Michigan, Auburn, West Virginia, Cal, Illinois, etc) at offensive line, they are extremely talented but very young. they return 4 starters from a line that produced a 1,000 rusher last year (who is back this year), but struggled in pass protection last year. however they are doing a much better job this year of protecting the QB. they are currently ranked #57 in least sacks allowed per game (Bama is #53, South Carolina is #61, Auburn, Georgia, and Arkansas are tied at #74, Miss State is #83, Vandy is #110, and Kentucky is #116) currently, the Tennessee offense is ranked the #4 total offense in the SEC, behind only S Carolina, Bama, and Arkansas (LSU is #9) Neyland is going to be rocking. 102,455-strong, biggest stadium in the SEC, 3rd largest in the USA, the most fearsome place to play outside of Tiger Stadium, IMO. LSU is 2-11-1 at Neyland, that's just a 0.179 win pct
Good read ... but the only problem I see with them is they seem unable to win the big games. Beat by FL and GA. I wouldn't be too sure about Sims and mistakes. That's what got him canned in the first place ... 11 ints in like just 8 games. The key to the TN machine was Bray! Their offensive ranking is high for the same reason AR is high ... lot's of passing yrds. But then you have to consider their opponents. It's like WVU .. put up 463 yrds passing ...but we beat them by two scores or better.
If everyone with tickets shows up... I heard they only had 50-something thousand show up for the UGA game....
Simms has 5 INTS for his whole career (203 att), Bray has 12 INTs in 340 career att, including 2 in their loss this year to Florida and 7 in his last three games of last season (2 vs Kentucky, 2 vs Vandy, and 3 in the bowl game Should be interesting to see how Simms does in this last season of his, esp if he wants to be anything like his dad (1st round pick, pro bowler, super bowl mvp) or his older brother (3rd round pick, long NFL career)
