September 18, 2009

Things to look for in Saturday's LSU vs. ULL game:

1) The Tigers can try to throw the ball down the field on this team.  The Cajun corners are 5'10 - 175, and 5'11 - 173.  This gives LSU about a 6" and 30-lb advantage with their top receivers.  In addition, ULL has not recorded a sack in two games, meaning Jordan Jefferson should have time to throw the football.

2) Look for more Charles Scott at fullback, per Les Miles, and in place of the injured Richard Murphy, Stevan Ridley may get some time, especially if the game is a runaway.

3) Pep Levingston will probably miss his second straight game.  The two freshman defensive ends, Chancey Aghayere and Lavar Edwards, each had a sack last week in his place.

4) ULL will run almost exclusively from the spread option package on offense.  Their quarterback Chris Masson has been very accurate through two games, but will sling some balls high from time to time.  The entire Cajun offensive line is back from last season.

5) Defensively, ULL gambles with their young and undersized secondary, which has produced 4 INT's in the first two games.  The best player on this unit is the MLB Antwyne Zanders (#41, 6'2", 232-lbs. SR.), and the linebacking corp is the heart of the defense.

6) Kicker Tyler Albrecht is a nice story.  He was attending Holy Cross of New Orleans, and had been beaten out for the starting kicking job there.  He was going to be their punter, but then Katrina hit, and his family relocated to Lafayette.  He won the kicking job at St. Thomas More, and Rickey Bustle found him.  Last week his first career FG, from 48 yards, beat Kansas State.

7) The Cajuns are 3rd nationally during the Bustle era in blocked kicks.  They blocked an extra point and a FG last week against KSU.

Other interesting tidbits:

LSU leads the series 21-0.
 
The combined scores of these games are 957-22.
 
ULL has been shutout in 16 of the 21 games. They have scored 3, 3, 3, 6, and 7 points in the other games.
 
LSU has scored more points in 19 of the 21 games than ULL has scored in the series.
 
The closest game was 7-3 in 1923.  The biggest margin (and the biggest in LSU history) was 93-0 in 1936.
 
The teams did not play between 1938 and 2002.
 
The average score is 45.57 - 1.05