LSU Preview
by John Berkowitz on Jun 5, 2009 8:14 AM PDT
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As the 2009 season approaches, Washington once again will have one of the toughest schedules in college football, starting the season with a bang as LSU visits to open the season on Sept 5. The Tigers are coming off a disappointing 8-5 season, but there is plenty of talent on the squad to make another serious run for a SEC West title. LSU may not be of the same caliber as a USC, but they are a solid top 15 pick heading into the season.
Sophomore Jordan Jefferson looks to have earned the starting QB spot this past spring. Jefferson is 6'4" and very mobile. He played in seven games last season, starting twice. The obvious highlight of his 2008 campaign was leading the Tigers to a 38-3 upset win over Georgia Tech in the season's finale. Jordan finished the 2009 season by connecting on 36 of 73 passes for 419 yards, four touchdowns and just one interception, He also rushed for 134 yards and one TD on 49 carries. The Tiger defense will be ready for Jake Locker, as they will practice against a similar player every day.
The running back position is loaded with talent, experience, and depth. The Tigers return three seniors who each can break a game open. LSU is led by Charles Scott, who rushed for over 1000 yards in 2008. Keiland Williams and Trindon Holliday provide plenty of experienced, quality depth, keeping defenses on their toes.
The wide receivers are led by Brandon LaFell, who tallied a team-leading 63 receptions last season. LaFell is an NFL-type talent who could have gone early in the 2009 pro football draft. Chris Mitchell, R.J. Jackson, Tim Molton, Chris Tolliver and five star recruit Ruben Randle will all push for playing time when the Tigers line up in three-and-four-wide sets. Randle will come in this fall with the ability to immediately start for the Tigers. Senior TE Richard Dickson returns and is a good bet to earn some post-season honors.
The Tigers' offensive line has the look of a rebuilding unit, as they lost three starters to graduation and the NFL. Bob Hebert, who was limited in 2009 spring drills due to a knee injury suffered during the 2008 season, will be the new starter at center. Josh Dworaczyk steps into the left guard spot, with Lyle Hitt returning for his senior year at right guard, plus Ciron Black and Joseph Barksdale teaming up to be one of the better tackle tandems in the SEC.
The key to the enduring success of the LSU football program under the regimes of both Les Miles and Nick Saban has been its defense. With all the growing that must take place on the offensive side of the ball in 2009, the defense will be counted on to pick up a lot of the early slack. LSU feels they have addressed this need by retooling its defensive staff in the form of three new assistant coaches.
The defensive line is rebuilding after losing their top five players to graduation in 2008. The Tigers return senior DE Rahim Alem , who led the SEC in sacks a year ago, and also got a boost from the NCAA when they granted DT Charles Alexander a sixth year of eligibility. Junior Pep Levingston and has taken hold of the defensive end spot this spring opposite Alem and it looks like he could be a player. He will most likely line up next to DT Drake Nevis. LSU is going to be challenged early up front this year because of the losses but they have a lot of talent in line that is just waiting for their first chances of getting into the rotation.
At linebacker the Tigers return Seniors Jacob Cutrera and Perry Riley, along with Jr. Kelvin Sheppard. All three have have all played a lot of football at LSU. Since LSU is bringing in a new DC expect some early growing pains as the talent adjust to the new schemes which were implemented last spring.
The Tigers are loaded at defensive back. CB Patrick Peterson and safety Chad Jones have All-American type talent. The other starting corner will likely be senior Chris Hawkins, who led the team with three interceptions and nine pass breakups a year ago. Pushing Hawkins and Peterson is junior Jai Eugene and sophomore Brandon Taylor, and they will more than likely battle for the nickel spot. Ron Brooks and Karnell Hatcher are battling it out for the starting spot at the other safety position.
Consensus
LSU is rebuiliding but not in the same sense that Washington is. The difference is that LSU has a solid pipeline of young talent that has been tutored to expect success.
The inexperience at QB is going to hurt them early in the season. On defense rebuilding the front four with a new DC is also going to cause some early growing pains.
Expect the Tigers to finish in the top 25 but they are realistically a year away from contending for a national championship unless their QB grows up in a hurry against the always tough SEC schedule.
How does UW match up?
Realistically Washington should be playing Nevada or Utah State to open the season and not a team like LSU. UW is however going to be catching the Tigers at home at probably the best time all season to play them. UW obviously comes in with an edge at QB and our young receivers should be able to match up well with LSU. The offensive line will have its hands full with the Tigers defensive front even though they are in rebuilding mode. UW's offensive line frankly doesn't cut it at this point and only recruiting, time, and talent will change that.
Defensively the Huskies get a break facing an inexperienced QB starting the season on the road. I expect improvement in every phase of the Husky defense this season which is easy to say because they were argualby the worst unit in the BCS last season.
Early Prediction
Washington should be able to hang with the Tigers early in this one. They should be fired up and playing over their heads in their nationally televised debut under new head coach Steve Sarkisian. Whenever you insert Jake Locker into the lineup it is a great equalizer to make up for a sup par offensive line. An enthusiastic full house to open the season should create quite a bit of excitement in Husky Stadium.
That being said overall talent and depth wins football games and sometime in the third quarter LSU should begin to pull away like so many teams such as Ohio State have done to UW in recent years. This one will be closer than expected but I am thinking pulls away and wins 31 - 21.
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LSU should begin to pull away like so many teams such as Ohio State have done to UW in recent years
I didn’t know TW and staff was still at Washington
Well...
The new coaching staff will certainly make a difference…they won’t however perform miracles every weekend. They still have to upgrade the talent base…particularly on the offensive line which will take some time.
by John Berkowitz on Jun 5, 2009 10:36 AM PDT up reply actions
LSU & the Mad Hatter are overhyped!
Since the departure of Nick Saban, LSU hasn’t been the same. Still a juggernaut, but not even close to how dominating they were when Saban was in charge. Take for instance the mad hatter’s national championship season a couple years. They lost two games in the season and found away to the national championship game. I don’t care who you are, you lose two games in the season your national championship chances should dry up!
They basically gave LSU the BCS trophy that year. Two losses? Everybody is all kissy, touchy, feely over the mad hatter. Personally I think the guy is riding the coat tails of Nick Saben. Les Miles (the mad hatter) has never built a program from the ground up, he is college football’s version of Phil Jackson!
Nobody knows what to expect from Jake Locker. The kid hasn’t played and from what we’ve seen of Locker, all he has done is run around and bull defenders over. That’s not QB play. I think we are going to see a new Jake Locker who can hit all the routes, who reads defenses, who utilizes the personnel around him better, and although it is not popular, Jake will learn to slide safely into 1st downs rather then lowering his shoulder for either another few feet or at worse, another devastating injury- Jake has to learn to slide.
LSU should win this game, but nothing is in the bag. The mad hatter can watch film on Washington or USC all he wants, but nobody knows what to expect from coach Steve Sarkisian this year. I see us being totally prepared to play the Bayou Tigers, where we will play to win. Expect the unexpected…
Go Dawgs! WOOF!!!
All I saw was purple
LSU
LSU is certainly rebuilding and Washington will have its chances to pull an upset at home. That being said LSU has an overall talent and depth advantage at almost every position on paper. Don’t forget that we haven’t shown the ability to convert on extra points or FG’s either which is a huge factor in close games.
by John Berkowitz on Jun 5, 2009 10:39 AM PDT up reply actions
Understible John, but what seperates us this year from last year is the fact that a “real” coaching staff has arrived. A coaching staff with a pulse, a coaching staff that is young and will do everything in it’s power to WIN. Willingham was doing a half ass job in every aspect of the job. His coaching staff hires were lame at best, his schemes were too predictable, his game day management was awful, and his recruiting efforts rivaled more towards WAC talent then BCS level of talent. It was painfully awful!
We have a young coach and a young coaching staff that wants to make a career in the college football coaching business. You can’t do that by losing [see Tyrone Willingham]. Our young team will be focused, energized, ready to get it on vs. the best of the best- our coaching staff will see to it.
Locker meanwhile will be a 3rd year starter. So far Jake has nothing impressive to show for his time spent at the UDub. This guy is too good to go out the way he came in. Eventually this kid is going to do Superman things and as a 3rd year starter in the Pac 10- I see Clark Kent in the phone booth changing into the super hero we all knew he’d be. 3 year starter in the Pac 10 is going to be HUGE for Jake- believe it!
6+ wins this season BABY! I am totally confident in that pick.
Go Dawgs! WOOF!!!
All I saw was purple
Or shown the ability . . .
to stop a passing play of any type. Even if Jake Locker has a heisman type year, our defense is still going to need to stop somebody if we want to win any games.
"Bow Down to Washington"
"Kick the tires and light the fires!"
ENTER: Nick freakin' Holt
Mr. Awesome- BABY!
Nick Holt is going to make our defensive pups into a meat grinder. It won’t be the sort of machine we see down at USC- not yet anyways. But our defense will play with a swagger, they will play assignment defense, and they will converge on the ball like a pack of crazed dawgs going after a pussy cat.
Our defense got twice as good as last year just by hiring Nick Holt to the post. Holt is the best defensive guy in the land other then his prior boss at SC. I’m not worried about the defense, my only concern has been with the offensive line- we get that thing functioning we’ll be okay.
All I saw was purple
I have faith . . .
in the defensive line, and the linebackers, it’s the secondary that scares me. I hate to say it, but you are right, the offensive line is my other big concern for the year, especially in a pro-style offense.
"Bow Down to Washington"
"Kick the tires and light the fires!"
Secondary and O Lines are ?
Those are the critical areas of need- I agree.
I think what we’ll see in the secondary is a lot of disguised coverage. We have to. When you don’t have any lock down corners and your safeties are inexperienced you have to disguise well. This isn’t Holt’s first time at the rodeo, he has a few tricks up his sleeve to disquise what we are doing back there.
The O line has to step up! Everything hinges on how the O line will function. In the preseason of the 09 season, the “experts” believed that our O line was our best unit- even over our LBing corps. They didn’t live up to the billing and it destroyed any thought of moving the chains.
I believe something was not right with the O line group last season. Not sure what it was but when the experts believe your unit is good and they don’t respond- something fishy smells. I was completely devastated by how ineffective the O line was last season.
What I think we’ll see from a revamped offensive line play is a lot of 90 game play (3 step QB drops) and max protect schemes. I also think that Sark and the Offensive line coach must emphasize in blocking 1st level opposing personnel. Translation: if you can’t block the members of the opposing defensive line, then you have no business attempting to block 2nd level LBers.
The key to a young secondary is disguising everything. The key to an ineffective O line is to start from scratch in teaching the basics. Shedding O line weight was a good start…
All I saw was purple
In it till the 4th
31-21 means that we’re in it the whole game. That’s what I want opening up against LSU: A tight game that doesn’t get out of hand and halfway thru the 4th we can say, “we have a chance”. If the Dawgs give EFFORT the entire four quarters, then anything can happen (something that obviously wasn’t there last year).
Grover
I think we have a decent shot.
by John Berkowitz on Jun 5, 2009 10:40 AM PDT up reply actions
What prevents the Huskies from beating LSU?
1. The streak. 0-12 last year. It can take a long time and to create a winning mentality. This team really got beat up last year as was most evident in the Apple Cup. This team will have to learn how to win.
2. New systems. The team will adapt and grow into the new systems, especially the prostyle offense, but I think there will be too many growing pains in the first couple games to really contend against a team like LSU.
3. Offensive Line & Hitting – LSU will dominate the line play and will be hitting harder than any other PAC 10 team we play.
Now with all that said, Locker will create some real challenges for LSU if our O-line can block. If our receivers can create some seperation and our defensive line can hold up we can stay in the game. The last thing we need is LSU over confident. It could happen, but I think this team has more growing to do before we knock off powerhouses like LSU.
Let'em be OVER CONFIDENT
I think we want LSU to be over confident. A few years ago Oregon State traveled down to Baton Rouge and if it weren’t for 3 missed extra points it would’ve spelled out a Beavs win. LSU didn’t respect a budding Beavs program and it got dicey.
We want these guys over confident in what THEY DO. If Sark has a vision of how his offense will roll, then surely it is best to keep it under wraps. If Les Miles watches film on Washington, all he’ll receive is physical attributes of our personnel. If he watches film on USC, all he’ll receive is how USC orchastrates their offense. I think Sark has an endless playbook. What you saw at SC might not be what you see at Washington.
The very best gameplan going into the opener vs. LSU is keep everything under wraps. I’m telling you, our team has a legit chance to thwart the Bayou Tigers for a big L.
Go Huskies! WOOF!!!
All I saw was purple
No
Believe me this would be a landmark win for this young team. All I am saying is anything is possible. Locker is going to be a 3rd year starting QB in the Pac 10. We saw how good he was with horrible coaching- imagine how great he can be with quality college coaching.
I don’t bet nor do I gamble. About the only way I bet is if I am playing with house money. And by looking at what we are facing this is LSU house money.
All I saw was purple
Didn't think so
I believe anything is possible, I think that a UW upset of LSU is possible, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up and I definitely wouldn’t put money on it. As much as I like what I’ve seen so far out of Sark and Holt, until I see the product on the field against another team, who knows what to expect.
"Bow Down to Washington"
"Kick the tires and light the fires!"
Crazi
It’s great to watch you get more jacked about the possibility of beating LSU. I think it was in the Am I Strange string about 2 months ago that I stated I thought the Huskies might win. I don’t know why, but I still feel like I’m plugging into some kind of cosmic foresight that they WILL win. Or, maybe I’m just thinking with my heart.
I’ll take your bet, Lear. I’m an old guy, living on Social Security, but I can afford $5.
GO DAWGS!!!
I'm tempted to take your bet!
If I lost it would be the best $5 ever spent, I’d give a lot more than that to see the Huskies upset LSU!!!
"Bow Down to Washington"
"Kick the tires and light the fires!"
What we've Got
I think what we’ve got is a young, hard working, energetic coach and coaching staff. To me that is a recipe for success. We’ve seen first hand in the last few months what hard work can do in regards to recruiting.
I unfortunately wasn’t able to attend any of the Spring practices, but from what I read about and saw via online tells me that the hard work ethic we’ve seen in terms of recruitment is going to spread out over onto the practice field just the same. You can forget everything Allen Iverson has ever said “practice … we’re talkin’ about practice?” Fellas everything is about practice and practicing.
We don’t exactly know what is on the horizon for Husky football. We do know we hired 2 top knotch USC coordinators, and a young energetic coaching staff that has the flavor of Idaho. We went 0-12 last season with arguably the youngest football team ever to suit up for a Pac 10 club, yet most everybody is back.
In the end it is hard to gage where we stand, yet from where we were in the pitfalls of the TW era, coach Sarkisian feels like a younger version of a Pete Carroll. With that said how could you not be optimistic? I’m tired of being let down as a Husky fan and having no choice but to become a weekend USC fan- it sucks!
Do I think we’ve got a shot at LSU? Yes. Would I wager on it? Hell no from what I’ve seen in the last few years. It’s time we turn things around and a home opener would kick off the season perfectly, something we can build on for the rest of the season.
Go Dawgs! WOOF!!!
All I saw was purple
I shouldn't encourage you . . .
but could you imagine being 2-0 and having USC come to town? The old lady (Husky Stadium) would be rocking!!!!!
"Bow Down to Washington"
"Kick the tires and light the fires!"
3-0?
We are catching LSU at the right time in the season. The Tigers are breaking in a new QB, they don’t and won’t know anything about scouting us, and if it is a hot day the air will be a dry heat- something that folks from the south aren’t acclimated to.
We know what LSU is going to throw at us. The Les Miles show has been well publicized, but nobody knows what sort of new fangled offense Sark is going to open with. And I’ve got to tell you (not a biased opinion) Jake Locker is the finest college football athlete I’ve ever seen. Rahib Ismail? Reggie Bush? Michael Vick? Hershel Walker? Bo Jackson? Locker is more talented in my eye then any of them. He doesn’t have the same statistics, same surrounding talent, or platform. But what he does have is a big heart that complements his athletism and cannon of an arm. To me he is a young Rocky Boboa type. An unknown commodity from obscurity that can be a champion. Locker is hungy to show the world what he can do, he may not say it because he is humble, but the kid has a fire in his belly to show the world what he can do. I think that is coming VERY soon to a stadium near you!
Can Locker will us to league championship contention? I believe he can. One prime example is of Ryan Leaf at WSU. Leaf led the Cougs to the Pac 10 title and Rose Bowl. I’m willing to bet that the talent surrounding Leaf wasn’t much better then what currently surrounds Locker. Yet Locker is better or at least could be better then Leaf. It could happen…
Sark insists on Jake staying in the pocket longer. This will allow his receivers to finish the routes. Their is nothing scarier then having a veteran savvy Locker scrambling around in the pocket. It will provide him with more opportunities. Opportunity 1 is that his receivers will find open space down field to complete a pass. Opportunity 2 Locker could always bail out from a mad scramble. Please oh please install a bail out. A bail out route is better then simply throwing the ball out of bounds.
If the OLine is functioning then everything is there for the taking offensively. Locker has good skill position teammates surrounding him. He needs to learn to trust them and not try to take on the entire defense by himself. The way I see it both times Locker was hurt was due to his own negligence. Both times Locker got hurt wasn’t the result of a missed block or anything. Both times he was injured was due to him pushing the envelope. Locker has to learn to let the game come to him rather then forcing things to happen. The art of sliding into a first down will offer Locker to live to fight another day and I think he has realized that. Locker has got to learn to pick his battles, big enough to take on the nastiest defender, but has to realize he is THEE key cog in the offense. He is needed!
Sark will have us ready for LSU. Don’t be too sure that we aren’t 2-0 leading up to the clash with the Trojans. And with Tommy Trojan bringing in a new inexperienced QB and a rebuilt defense? A 3rd year starting QB in Jake Locker could have a career day.
Don’t be shocked if we are 3-0 after playing the USC Trojans BABY!
Go Dawgs! WOOF!!!
All I saw was purple
IF, and that is a MAMMOTH IF . . .
we were to see 3-0, I’d expect us to go 12-0. Time to stop drinking the kool-aid, we are the ones rolling out a new offensive system, and a new defensive system, there WILL be growing pains.
"Bow Down to Washington"
"Kick the tires and light the fires!"
This was the funniest thread in a long while
You guys are packing so much energy, I think we should send you out as something like Jackie Sherrill’s special teams.
Of course, it’s only June, so maybe some a short course of tranquilizers would be more in order…
It is only June
It is only June but look forward to eleven more opponent reviews and UW positional analysis over the next weeks before fall camp begins on August 10th. We are in countdown mode.
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