Here are mine (in my opinion, though I think most of these are the obvious ones). Feel free to add your own:
1. Establishing the run. This goes for both teams, really. A lot is being made of LSU's inability to run the ball on Nicholl's, but they ran it pretty well against So Cal (4.5 ypc), so it was probably just an off night for them. They are averaging 3.8 ypc overall and we are at 2.9. If one team or the other is able to establish the threat of the run, that will go a long way in this contest.
1a. Find some room for Rocket. Running up the middle isn't working (news flash!) and is just a waste of a down. He showed some stuff on his run for an apparent TD that was overturned. I hope our coaches will design run plays that go to the strength of the team, and Rocket in particular.
2. Containing Nussmeier. He was great against So Cal (30/39, 2 TD, 1 INT). Against Nicholls, he was pretty much their entire offense, throwing for 302 yards (of 378 total) and 6 TDs. LSU will surely try to get the run game going, and we struggled mightily with that in the early going against UK. But the offense will go through Nussmeier and our secondary will be tested.
3. Keep the DL mojo going. Through 2 games, the story of our team is the DL. We certainly lose against ODU without their effort, and they were consistently in UK's backfield from start to finish on Saturday. Our pass rush will be vital in this game. As noted in #2, Nussmeier is the key for LSU's offense, and he's not a run threat, so we need to get to him early and often.
4. The LSU OL. Ties in with #3. LSU was expected to have the best OL in college football this season. Through their first 2 games, it has been considered a disappointment so far by the LSU people. That is relative. of course, to them being expected to be the best unit in college football. It will still be the best OL, by far, that we have faced. Our DL has been one of the surprises in the league so far. We need to attack early and try to establish dominance on the LOS.
5. Get Sellers loose. Another obvious one, but without much of a run threat so far, the offense if falling largely on Sellers shoulders. He looked his best when he rolled out of the pocket against UK (and it helps that UK had some blown coverages), but Sellers was good at getting out and buying time to find the open guy. He's clearly a work in progress, as is the entire offense, but he took some nice baby steps against UK. Hopefully the coaches are getting a better idea of what his strengths and weaknesses are and will be able to tailor the offense to emphasize the former and minimize the latter.
6. Beamer. This game offers him the ability to really start to establish himself as a head coach. He seemed on the way to doing that with the wins over UT and Clemson, but those feel like an eternity ago at this point. With a top 20 name brand team rolling into town and Game Day on site, this offers him the chance to show he belongs. Will we look prepared? Will we be able make in-game adjustments as necessary? Even in a loss, the one thing we don't want is to look outclassed.
1. Establishing the run. This goes for both teams, really. A lot is being made of LSU's inability to run the ball on Nicholl's, but they ran it pretty well against So Cal (4.5 ypc), so it was probably just an off night for them. They are averaging 3.8 ypc overall and we are at 2.9. If one team or the other is able to establish the threat of the run, that will go a long way in this contest.
1a. Find some room for Rocket. Running up the middle isn't working (news flash!) and is just a waste of a down. He showed some stuff on his run for an apparent TD that was overturned. I hope our coaches will design run plays that go to the strength of the team, and Rocket in particular.
2. Containing Nussmeier. He was great against So Cal (30/39, 2 TD, 1 INT). Against Nicholls, he was pretty much their entire offense, throwing for 302 yards (of 378 total) and 6 TDs. LSU will surely try to get the run game going, and we struggled mightily with that in the early going against UK. But the offense will go through Nussmeier and our secondary will be tested.
3. Keep the DL mojo going. Through 2 games, the story of our team is the DL. We certainly lose against ODU without their effort, and they were consistently in UK's backfield from start to finish on Saturday. Our pass rush will be vital in this game. As noted in #2, Nussmeier is the key for LSU's offense, and he's not a run threat, so we need to get to him early and often.
4. The LSU OL. Ties in with #3. LSU was expected to have the best OL in college football this season. Through their first 2 games, it has been considered a disappointment so far by the LSU people. That is relative. of course, to them being expected to be the best unit in college football. It will still be the best OL, by far, that we have faced. Our DL has been one of the surprises in the league so far. We need to attack early and try to establish dominance on the LOS.
5. Get Sellers loose. Another obvious one, but without much of a run threat so far, the offense if falling largely on Sellers shoulders. He looked his best when he rolled out of the pocket against UK (and it helps that UK had some blown coverages), but Sellers was good at getting out and buying time to find the open guy. He's clearly a work in progress, as is the entire offense, but he took some nice baby steps against UK. Hopefully the coaches are getting a better idea of what his strengths and weaknesses are and will be able to tailor the offense to emphasize the former and minimize the latter.
6. Beamer. This game offers him the ability to really start to establish himself as a head coach. He seemed on the way to doing that with the wins over UT and Clemson, but those feel like an eternity ago at this point. With a top 20 name brand team rolling into town and Game Day on site, this offers him the chance to show he belongs. Will we look prepared? Will we be able make in-game adjustments as necessary? Even in a loss, the one thing we don't want is to look outclassed.
