Some LSU numbers

[Pete]

C A Y % Y/A tds int sack rating
Russell 211 308 2797 68.5 9.1 26 7 14 168.10 (3 nation)

LSU is 10th in nation in scoring 33.1 points/game (ND is 12th w/32.4)

LSU 415.2 yrd/game 159.2 rush yard/game 245 pass yard/game

LSU 3rd down conv. 67/135 49.6% (8th) 4th down 12/16 75% (4th)

Top 4 rushers

NAME CAR YDS YPC LONG TD
Jacob Hester 91 415 4.6 28(TD) 6
Keiland Williams 62 329 5.3 38(TD) 3
Alley Broussard 74 281 3.8 38 4
Charles Scott 46 277 6.0 38(TD) 5

Top 6 WR
Dwayne Bowe 60 912 15.2 58(TD) 11
Craig Davis 52 786 15.1 47(TD) 4
Early Doucet 51 657 12.9 42 8
Jacob Hester 34 257 7.6 38 3
Richard Dickson 6 96 16.0 55 0
Brandon LaFell 4 82 20.5 58(TD) 1

 

[NDismylife21]

They definately look pretty tough by the numbers, I'm not really sure where their weakness lies, if they have one.

 

[Denny]

We are really gonna need a ball control offense and having Carlson back (hopefully) will help.

 

[timm3117]

There weakness is there offense its been great and its been awful, in there losses they scored 3 and 10 and Russell wasn't really great in there big games against Auburn, Florida, Tennessee, and Arkansas 6 TD's and 6 Ints. If we can move the ball and eat up some clock, and Russell makes a few of his bonehead plays. We'll have a good shot!

 

[johnnd05]

There weakness is there offense its been great and its been awful, in there losses they scored 3 and 10 and Russell wasn't really great in there big games against Auburn, Florida, Tennessee, and Arkansas 6 TD's and 6 Ints. If we can move the ball and eat up some clock, and Russell makes a few of his bonehead plays. We'll have a good shot!

All this is right on the mark. We need the LSU from those losses ... if Jamarcus gets in a groove, it'll be a tough go.

 

[timm3117]

I'm stuck here in SEC country so I've seen alot of LSU, when there on they might be the best team in the country. But when the off there really off. Lets hope the team I saw fall apart against Florida or the one that scored only 3 on Auburn shows up. Because if they bring their A game we could be in trouble.

 

[sportallyr]

They have tremendous depth and their defense is very fast and they collapse on the ball unbelievably fast. Overall, I think that our strengths will compare well with their strengths and our weaknesses will compare with their weaknesses. I am really glad we are playing them...although I wish the game was in a more neutral environment. I know that we usually do...but we really need to have a good fan showing in this game!!!

 

[LOVEMYIRISH]

We are really gonna need a ball control offense and having Carlson back (hopefully) will help.

We are also going to need some divine intervention... Whatever it takes.

 

[weisguys_9]

This has to be ND's best game of the last to years (-usc last year) if they are going to pull this off.

 

[njuneardave]

the stat that is glaring at me is that Russell has only been sacked 14 times. I know he is hard to bring down, but you also have to attribute that success to the LSU offensive line. We need our DE's to step it up

 

[reneg]

Over looking their season schedule I think their biggest weakness is the fact that they have yet to play a legitimate passing offense. The best offense they played this year was Arkansas and they are more of a running threat than they are a passing threat. Other than that the best offensive team was probably Florida and I wouldn't consider them that great of an offense. They are a very fast defense, if we can get the draws and screens working well mixing that up with the deep ball, I think we have a good shot at beating them. However we'll need the defense to play a solid game.

 

[Katzenboyer]

Keep in mind with their two losses (and low points total), they were playing two of the stingiest defenses in college football.

But they haven't faced an offense that schemes directly to a defense's weakness, and they haven't faced a pass-first offense like ND's.

 

[omissionrock]

LSU looks tough

 

[dankus]

LSU's offensive and defensive stats are inflated against their poor out-of-conference schedule. It would more indicative of their caliber of play when you consider their stats versus ranked opponents:


LSU has played 4 games against ranked opponents(Tenn, Auburn, Florida, Arkansas)

Offense
Rushing
Ranked Opponents: 4 Games, 129 Attempts, 481 yards, 3.73 YPC 2 TD

Passing
Ranked Opponents: 4 game, 136 attempts, 82 comp, 954 tards, 6 INT, 6 TD, 124.96 Rating



Defense
Rushing
Ranked Opponents: 4 games, 129 Attempts, 529 yards, 4.10 average, 5 TD

Passing
4 Games, 98 Attempts, 47 Comp, 529 yards, 4 INT, 5 TD, 103.70 rating

We can conclude a few things from these stats:

First, LSU hasn't played a really capable passing offense. One could argue that Florida fits the bill, but Florida is rated 26th in passing offense and this was the passing line in that game:

28 Attempts, 19 completions
1 INT
2 TD
Rating: 141.59

Which was a victory for Florida. This is easily the best passing performance against the defense and we should expect Quinn to surpass these numbers.

Second, LSU's offense isn't putting up stellar numbers against good opponents. Their offense has only 8 TDs versus top 25 opponenents in 4 games. This is the same number of TDs ND's offense has in 3 games, with less interceptions(3 for ND, 6 for LSU) and way less fumbles(3 for ND, 9 for LSU).

Third, their defense has not played well against the run. The only running team they shut down was Auburn and Auburn averaged less than 2.0 YPC, and Irons was hobbled with an ankle injury. Walker and Company average 3.03 YPC against ranked opponents. Since the Florida game(LSUs last loss) they have given up 3.40 YPC.

 

[jerseyborn1971]

"but, but, but we play in the SEC! The SEC is the, is the, is the greatest conference in the history of sports! Numbers and stats don't mean nuthin cuz, cuz, cuz, well, cuz it's the SEC! We play Bama and Georgia and South Carolina!"