Yep, that was the year we had the co-DC, right? Still, with that long to prepare, I hope Chavis can come up with some type of game plan to control the mobile QB. Don't kid yourself about Boise St. They can match up with any team in the nation for one game, like a bowl; especially given enough time to rest their starters. They beat Oregon last year with pretty much the same team they have now, except for the QB and they beat an undefeated TCU team in their bowl game. The criticism for them of course is their schedule. They don't play in a tough conference, where week after week it's a grind, players are nicked up and playing through injury. Still, if they played in the SEC, I think they could compete and maybe be in the top 5 in the conference. No way would they go undefeated and they certainly wouldn't have the video game type blowouts every Sat.
They're a lot better in the trenches than they were in '07. That game was all about pure dominance on the LOS. Their DL has grown up a lot since then and will give us problems should we end up playing them in a bowl. I like our chances, but they match up a little better with us this time around.
Their weak to weak schedule. Pure and simple. Honestly I think they both have great coaches and good (not superior) athletes. There's no doubt in my mind that if they played bigtime BCS teams like us, Bama, AU, FL, etc... Every week and every year that they would not be in the BCS discussion every year. My biggest frustration with all of this IS the DISCUSSION. Every week for the last 3-5 years this comes up and I am sick of hearing everyones opinions about it. Just settle it on the field and be done with it already. I tell you this - if TCU and BSU play strong teams in the bowl games this year that will set them back a few years as far as the BCSNC talk goes. So, yeah I hope we get the chance to END the discussion for one of these teams - in a convincing way.
LSU would certainly struggle vs either TCU or Boise State. I think our defense would fare much better vs TCU. Boise runs a lot of misdirection and we all know what trouble that has given us this season. The real test would be to see how good these defenses really are. They are very sound in their principles, concepts and assignments. But do other team's superior athletes offset that soundness? That's the question I am more interested in seeing answered. OU put up a ton of points on TCU a couple of years ago, although it was very early in the season. Nonetheless, they were torched.
Cotton Bowl? I highly doubt it, if we win vs ARK and AU beats South Carolina we go to sugar. But I would like to play either one of those teams very much as well.
I predict the Bowl system will give us another snoozer of a Bowl season again this year even with all the exciting possibilities. Of the 117 Bowls last year I watched only two.
agreed! #1 should play #2..and will #3 vs #4 #5 vs #6 and so on, but that would make too much sense. Instead, the rose bowl will take pac 10 vs big 10. They need to do away with all these conference tie ins. I'd like to see LSU play in different bowls, like the Rose.
Auburn and Ole Miss could have turned out better if defenders would learn to keep their lanes. Stay at home and quit biting on the fakes. They were out of position against Ole Miss all day because they were reacting to the fakes or anticipating the ball direction. I think OSU fans would want a rematch due to the revenge factor. LSU fans would rather beat someone different.
Both defenses are very good, IMO. TCU is always one of the better defenses in the country, always. And this year, Boise State's DL dominated Va Tech and held Ryan Matthews to around 40 yards rushing. People are kidding themselves by pretending these schools aren't talented. They could both compete in the SEC, certainly in this year, when the East was horrendous. The SEC is hands down the toughest conference in America, but TCU and Boise State are legit teams. Trust me.
I agree, the been there done that factor takes some of the shine off of making it to a BCS Bowl for me. I would add, that depending on how Mich does throughout the rest of the season, the Tigers/Miles beating tOSU once again, might put Miles back at the top of Mich's radar. Something I really don't want to see.
