Tigers vs. Pussy Cats!

Week 8: October 20, 2007
(4) LSU vs. (17) Auburn
Death Valley, Baton Rouge
8 pm ESPN

Point Spread:
LSU (-11)

Know Thy Foe:
Head Coach – Tommy Tubberville

Auburn is a serious contender for the West. They are a legitimate threat to LSU. They stumbled twice early this year, but have since found some consistency on offense and have stopped turning the ball over. They are not the same team that lost to Mississippi St.
Auburn is 2-0 in road contests this season. They have won their last 8 SEC road games going all the way back to the 2005 LSU-Auburn game where LSU won 20-17. They have won their last 9 matchups with Top 10 opponents. That should tell you something about Tubberville’s ability to prepare his team for the big games. And this one is HUGE!

Week 1: Defeated Kansas St., 23-13
Week 2: Lost to South Florida,26-24
Week 3: Lost to Mississippi St., 19-14
Week 4: Defeated New Mexico St., 55-20
Week 5: Defeated Florida, 20-17
Week 6: Defeated Vanderbilt, 35-7
Week 7: Defeated Arkansas, 9-7

LSU Offense vs. Auburn Defense:
Defense is the strength of this Auburn team. Auburn is second in the league in total defense behind LSU. Quentin Groves, the anchor on the d-line, will be back for this game after missing the last two with a foot injury. Last year, Auburn held LSU to its fewest points in the Les Miles era. Auburn has held 17 of its last 20 opponents to 20 points or less. Like LSU, they are very balanced on defense and they will be coming after the quarterback. The offensive line better be prepared for a blitz scheme like they’ve not seen yet this year. Mushchamp and Tubberville will find ways to disrupt our offense. They have a knack for attacking your offensive strengths. Don’t forget, this team has already shut down Tim Tebow and Darren McFadden. It will be a physical game when LSU’s offense is on the field.
I expect a much better performance from Matt Flynn this game with the return of his safety net, Early Doucet. Flynn will once again feel comfortable throwing the ball and his confidence should re-emerge. Brandon Lafell didn’t handle the spotlight very well while Doucet was out, but he should slide back to the #2 guy and fulfill his role nicely. Will Arnold will also be healthy but I’m not sure how much he’ll play after missing over a month of contact. Hopefully, we’ll see a Crowton offensive game plan instead of the Miles game plan that we saw at the end of the Kentucky game.

Auburn Offense vs. LSU Defense:
Auburn’s signal caller is Brandon Cox, a 3rd year starter. Cox has shown moments of brilliance and he’s looked kinda bad. In that respect, he’s much like Flynn. Their stats are very similar as well. Brad Lester is Auburn’s starting tailback and R. Smith is Auburn’s leading receiver. The Auburn o-line is very young and they might line up a true freshman across from Dorsey. That would be a huge mismatch I don’t care how good he is. Dorsey will probably be double-teamed as usual. This offense is not as good as the last two that we’ve faced. Cox is not a good scrambler so we should be able to put pressure on him and get a few sacks. But I said that about Woodson too. We need to turn up the heat on our rush defense!

Game Prediction:
LSU is still in great position but we have no room for error. If we lose to Auburn, we probably won’t make it to Atlanta and you can forget about another national championship. Auburn has a lot to play for as well so both teams should be equally motivated. The winner of this game has a clear lead in the west. In the last 7 years, the winner of this game has made it to Atlanta 5 times. Furthermore, the home team has won this game each year in that same 7 year span. The last 3 games have been settled by a total of 8 points.
This will be a tough fight. Tubberville is a very good gameday coach. He’s got a lot of deception between those huge ears. He’s cocky, he’s annoying, he’s Tubberville. He’s the kind of coach you’d just love to run up the score on. Unfortunately, that won’t happen. LSU will maintain a 1 possession lead throughout most of the game and score late to put it away. LSU’s home winning streak is extended to 18 games.
I’ll take LSU – 24, Auburn – 10.

Week 8 Games of the Week: (Predicted winners in CAPS)
Mississippi St. at (9) WEST VIRGINIA
(21) Tennessee at ALABAMA
(14) SOUTHERN CAL at Notre Dame
Miami at FLORIDA ST.
(10) OREGON at Washington
(1) OHIO ST. at Michigan St.

Lock of the Week: (2-3)
(15) Florida -7 at (7) Kentucky
Kentucky will lose this game for the same reason they beat LSU. The crash after an emotional high! Plus, Florida was off last week and they’re still pissed off about the LSU game. I would bet the farm on this game if I were a gambling man, which everyone knows I am not.

Upset Special: (3-2)
UCLA over (12) California

The Name Game:
This is a series that has been punctuated by a lot of crazy games. The interception game, the Earthquake game, the Barn Burner game, the Cigar game, the Band Punter fight game, Refgate, and last year’s Grand Theft Auburn. What will happen this year?

Did you hear?
In a recent press conference, Tubberville is already talking about how his team will not get any calls inside Death Valley. Excuse me, but your team has STOLEN the last two games at Auburn. The inequities inside your stadium have been very well documented. Not to mention that LSU has gotten the stinky end of the stick this year when it comes to penalties. Pot meet Kettle! Shut the hell up EARS!