I've seen Tech play (in person) against Boise St. and Miami. They remind me of the Miami-Ohio team LSU played last year, except with a MUCH worse defense. Before the Redhawks' visit to Death Valley, they had been putting up some gaudy offensive numbers against MAC competition, but they were dominated by a much more physical and much, much faster LSU defense.....and LSU rolled that night.
Tech's offensive bread and butter is short routes (lots of WR screens and dump offs in the flats), which can be effective against defenses lacking in speed. Needless to say, that won't be the case Sat. night--after playing "WAC trash bag defenses" such as UTEP, Hawaii, and Nevada, the Tiger D will seem like the '00 Ravens to them. Tech's running game primarily consists of draws and quasi-running plays such as screens (they LOVE those screens), shuffle passes, and dinks to the RB in the flat. You will rarely, if ever, see them run out of the "I". I don't think they even have a true FB on the roster. I've followed these guys for several years, and their offensive philosophy usually crumbles against defenses that dominate them in the trenches. I see absolutely no reason why that pattern won't repeat itself Sat. night.
Tech's defense isn't even worthy of analysis, although LB Hamilton is a SEC-caliber athlete. Suffice it to say that Tech's undermanned D will come to loath and fear five words: "Toss sweep to Alley Landry." Big, physical backs have ALWAYS abused that painfully weak D, which is just as much a hallmark of the Tech program as their spread offense.
I just see way too many matchup problems for those guys against one of the most talented LSU teams in years, and expect a real beating to be handed down. One intangible that hasn't received much attention is that LSU has an off week after this game--in other words, take care of business and beat the crap out of Tech, and the next 2 weeks will be so much nicer.
Prediction: Tiger 55 Tech 10
Tech's offensive bread and butter is short routes (lots of WR screens and dump offs in the flats), which can be effective against defenses lacking in speed. Needless to say, that won't be the case Sat. night--after playing "WAC trash bag defenses" such as UTEP, Hawaii, and Nevada, the Tiger D will seem like the '00 Ravens to them. Tech's running game primarily consists of draws and quasi-running plays such as screens (they LOVE those screens), shuffle passes, and dinks to the RB in the flat. You will rarely, if ever, see them run out of the "I". I don't think they even have a true FB on the roster. I've followed these guys for several years, and their offensive philosophy usually crumbles against defenses that dominate them in the trenches. I see absolutely no reason why that pattern won't repeat itself Sat. night.
Tech's defense isn't even worthy of analysis, although LB Hamilton is a SEC-caliber athlete. Suffice it to say that Tech's undermanned D will come to loath and fear five words: "Toss sweep to Alley Landry." Big, physical backs have ALWAYS abused that painfully weak D, which is just as much a hallmark of the Tech program as their spread offense.
I just see way too many matchup problems for those guys against one of the most talented LSU teams in years, and expect a real beating to be handed down. One intangible that hasn't received much attention is that LSU has an off week after this game--in other words, take care of business and beat the crap out of Tech, and the next 2 weeks will be so much nicer.
Prediction: Tiger 55 Tech 10
