Post by elp525 on Sept 23, 2011 5:03:02 GMT -5
Friday September 23, 2011
by Mike Casazza
Charleston Daily Mail
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Either Shannon Dawson has watched so much tape on LSU's defense that he's tired of thinking about it or he's heard too often West Virginia's offense is no match for the Tigers defense.
Whatever the case, WVU's inside receivers coach kind of sighs and snarls when someone asks him what it is about the LSU defense.
"They're rangy, fast, big, physical, beat everyone and don't let you score," he said.
And how to you counter that?
Sign. Snarl. Synopsis.
"You've got to play big, play fast, play rangy and you've got to beat them and you've got to score," Dawson said.
If only it were that easy. Then, as the doubting masses suggest, the Mountaineers would have a chance Saturday night against what is as good a defense as they have seen in many, many years.
As it is, when No. 16 WVU (3-0) plays host to No. 2 LSU (3-0) in an 8:12 kickoff at Mountaineer Field, when the ABC cameras light up and the game begins, the Mountaineers know what they're up against and why they're about a touchdown underdog.
It's obvious, but it's also been ingrained in them. For a long time now, everyone has told them just that, but Dawson again shrugs it off and combats those facts with ones of his own.
"They're good, they've got one of the best - if not the best - defenses in that nation and we're going to have our hands full, no doubt about it," he said. "But I like our team, too. I think our kids are fast.
"And the last time I checked, they can only put 11 on the field, equal to the 11 we can put out there - unless the rules have changed since last week. As long as we can both put 11 on the field, I like our chances."
Spoken like someone who's had enough, who just can't wait any longer to play the game instead of talking about the game. Spoken like someone who respects, but it not intimidated by LSU.
And also spoken by someone who is from Louisiana and wasn't in awe of the program as a kid.
Dawson is from Clinton, La., a tiny town on the southern border with Mississippi, a little less than three square miles in size and home to about 2,000 people, but big enough to have the "Dukes of Hazzard" movie and the HBO series "True Blood" film there.
"I didn't grow up an LSU fan," he said. "Honest to God, from when I was a little kid to now, I could care less about LSU."
Understand that is unusual in Louisiana, where there is Tulane and Louisiana-Lafayette and Louisiana-Monroe, but there is really only LSU.
"Everyone is an LSU fan and everyone in the state is the same," he said. "It's really the same as this state. The tailgating here and the tailgating there, the atmosphere, it's all about the same. The only real difference it they have about 15,000 more seats than we do."
Actually, it's more like 30,000 more seats, but Dawson wasn't swayed by his surroundings. Nor were his parents. He was one of those rare finds.
"Very unusual," Dawson admitted. "Part of it was my parents. They weren't LSU fans so I didn't grow up in a household that worshipped LSU like most of the kids did in Louisiana. It's a lot like being here where everyone loves it. But I didn't grow up in that kind of household."
Dawson instead grew away from it. He saw the way everyone adored the Tigers and he pretty much hated it, so much so that he went in what is probably the complete opposite direction.
"That turned me away, to be honest with you," he said. "I didn't grow up in a Catholic home, but I watched Notre Dame, probably because they were the only other ones on every Saturday."
And it's not that Dawson wasn't a fan of football. He played in high school and then in college at Wingate, in North Carolina. He didn't even have something against returning to Louisiana and working in coaching while combating the LSU behemoth. Dawson spent two years at Southeastern Louisiana early in his career.
He just never changed the way he felt.
"I loved Notre Dame," he said. "I didn't care about LSU. I just didn't care. I was the only guy wearing the Notre Dame shirt when everyone else was wearing purple and gold."
That's a slight exaggeration. He had one classmate named Eugene growing up who was also a Notre Dame fan. They wore the T-shirts and cheered the Fighting Irish and marched on together.
"Everyone else was an LSU fan," Dawson said, "but we had that one thing in common."
by Mike Casazza
Charleston Daily Mail
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Either Shannon Dawson has watched so much tape on LSU's defense that he's tired of thinking about it or he's heard too often West Virginia's offense is no match for the Tigers defense.
Whatever the case, WVU's inside receivers coach kind of sighs and snarls when someone asks him what it is about the LSU defense.
"They're rangy, fast, big, physical, beat everyone and don't let you score," he said.
And how to you counter that?
Sign. Snarl. Synopsis.
"You've got to play big, play fast, play rangy and you've got to beat them and you've got to score," Dawson said.
If only it were that easy. Then, as the doubting masses suggest, the Mountaineers would have a chance Saturday night against what is as good a defense as they have seen in many, many years.
As it is, when No. 16 WVU (3-0) plays host to No. 2 LSU (3-0) in an 8:12 kickoff at Mountaineer Field, when the ABC cameras light up and the game begins, the Mountaineers know what they're up against and why they're about a touchdown underdog.
It's obvious, but it's also been ingrained in them. For a long time now, everyone has told them just that, but Dawson again shrugs it off and combats those facts with ones of his own.
"They're good, they've got one of the best - if not the best - defenses in that nation and we're going to have our hands full, no doubt about it," he said. "But I like our team, too. I think our kids are fast.
"And the last time I checked, they can only put 11 on the field, equal to the 11 we can put out there - unless the rules have changed since last week. As long as we can both put 11 on the field, I like our chances."
Spoken like someone who's had enough, who just can't wait any longer to play the game instead of talking about the game. Spoken like someone who respects, but it not intimidated by LSU.
And also spoken by someone who is from Louisiana and wasn't in awe of the program as a kid.
Dawson is from Clinton, La., a tiny town on the southern border with Mississippi, a little less than three square miles in size and home to about 2,000 people, but big enough to have the "Dukes of Hazzard" movie and the HBO series "True Blood" film there.
"I didn't grow up an LSU fan," he said. "Honest to God, from when I was a little kid to now, I could care less about LSU."
Understand that is unusual in Louisiana, where there is Tulane and Louisiana-Lafayette and Louisiana-Monroe, but there is really only LSU.
"Everyone is an LSU fan and everyone in the state is the same," he said. "It's really the same as this state. The tailgating here and the tailgating there, the atmosphere, it's all about the same. The only real difference it they have about 15,000 more seats than we do."
Actually, it's more like 30,000 more seats, but Dawson wasn't swayed by his surroundings. Nor were his parents. He was one of those rare finds.
"Very unusual," Dawson admitted. "Part of it was my parents. They weren't LSU fans so I didn't grow up in a household that worshipped LSU like most of the kids did in Louisiana. It's a lot like being here where everyone loves it. But I didn't grow up in that kind of household."
Dawson instead grew away from it. He saw the way everyone adored the Tigers and he pretty much hated it, so much so that he went in what is probably the complete opposite direction.
"That turned me away, to be honest with you," he said. "I didn't grow up in a Catholic home, but I watched Notre Dame, probably because they were the only other ones on every Saturday."
And it's not that Dawson wasn't a fan of football. He played in high school and then in college at Wingate, in North Carolina. He didn't even have something against returning to Louisiana and working in coaching while combating the LSU behemoth. Dawson spent two years at Southeastern Louisiana early in his career.
He just never changed the way he felt.
"I loved Notre Dame," he said. "I didn't care about LSU. I just didn't care. I was the only guy wearing the Notre Dame shirt when everyone else was wearing purple and gold."
That's a slight exaggeration. He had one classmate named Eugene growing up who was also a Notre Dame fan. They wore the T-shirts and cheered the Fighting Irish and marched on together.
"Everyone else was an LSU fan," Dawson said, "but we had that one thing in common."
