Post by elp525 on Sept 24, 2011 6:17:33 GMT -5
09/23/2011
Garrett Cullen
Morgantown
Milan Puskar Stadium will be on the national stage Saturday night in Morgantown as No. 16 West Virginia (3-0) hosts No. 2 LSU (3-0) in a primetime matchup televised on ABC.
Saturday’s contest will be LSU’s third game against a ranked opponent already this year – the Tigers defeated then No. 3 Oregon to open up the year 40-27 and edged then No. 25 Mississippi State team a week ago 19-6.
“You don’t win (two) national championships in a decade and be average, and that doesn’t just turn south very quickly,” said Mountaineer head coach Dana Holgorsen of the Tigers. “They’ve done a good job with sustaining their program. They’ve been in two big games this year, which they’ve handled each opponent fairly easily. To say it’s not going to be a challenge would be crazy.”
Meanwhile, for West Virginia, there’s been an extra buzz around campus throughout the week as ESPN’s College GameDay made the trip to Morgantown for the first time for a football game.
“The amount of eyes looking at our facilities and our stadium and the city of Morgantown and the state of West Virginia will be a positive thing,” Holgorsen said. “The amount of eyes looking at our program, not only the football team, but the athletic program, the city, and the rest of it, is good and I’m fired up about it. I’m glad it’s here and all that stuff is positive.”
The build up for Saturday’s game has certainly set the stage as one of the biggest home matchups for the Mountaineers in quite a while – the last time the West Virginia faced a top three ranked team in Morgantown was 2005 against No. 3 Virginia Tech. West Virginia’s biggest win ever over a ranked opponent in Morgantown came back in 2003 against the third ranked Hokies.
“We want to win and do something big for ourselves and the state West Virginia – it’s a pretty big task, but we’re ready to play ball,” said Mountaineer receiver Stedman Bailey.
A year ago against LSU, West Virginia played well enough to win in Baton Rouge – however, the Mountaineers finished on the wrong end of the scoreboard, 20-14, after totaling just 177 total offensive yards. This year’s game also figures to be a defensive battle as well as the Tigers are loaded on that side of the ball, especially.
LSU comes into Saturday ranked sixth in the country in total defense and third at stopping the run – the Tigers have given up just under 48 rushing yards per game so far this year.
“They are wherever the ball is,” Holgorsen said. “They get there really fast, and they’re pretty impressive once they get there. You can study their personnel all
you want to, but they’re all capable of making plays. The way they get to the ball and the nature in which they get there is pretty impressive.”
Defensively for the Tigers, 17 of the 21 players on the two-deep have at least one tackle for a loss. Sophomore defensive back Tyrann Mathieu leads the team overall with 24 tackles.
“I respect their defense a lot – they swarm to the ball,” said Mountaineer center Joey Madsen. “We’ve been watching film and every time, there’s at least eight guys going to the ball. They come off of the ball hard, they use their hands a lot and they’re not bull rushers or anything – we’ve just got to set back and pick everything up.”
Madsen is a part of a Mountaineer offensive line, meanwhile, which took a lot of heat following wins over Marshall and Norfolk State where the running game struggled to get going. However, in week three against Maryland, there was a noticeable improvement along the line and in the running game overall.
“The first two weeks, we got on guys like we always do and our techniques were sound and everything was fine – we just weren’t finishing guys,” Madsen said. “Against Maryland, we started finishing guys and putting guys on the ground and that was how we scored.”
LSU, meanwhile, is almost a lock to score whenever they get the ball inside the redzone – the Tigers enter Saturday converting on 40 consecutive trips inside the redzone with either a touchdown or field goal. That’s a streak that goes back all the way to October 16th of last year.
This year, a couple of sophomores lead the way for the Tigers rushing the football – 5-foot-11, 223 pound Spencer Ware has 54 carries on the year for 226 yards and three touchdowns while 5-foot-10, 215 pound Michael Ford has 218 yards and four touchdowns on 40 carries.
“It’s a physical nature,” Holgorsen said of the LSU offense. “They’re going to put in a fullback and a tight end and they’re going to get after you. If you put too many people in there, then they’re going to one-on-one you on the outsides with their talented receivers.”
LSU will have one of those talented receivers back in the fold on Saturday who’s been out due to a suspension. 6-foot-1 junior Russell Shepard was forced to sit out the first three games of the season for breaking an NCAA rule – he had 33 catches for 226 yards and two touchdowns last year as a sophomore.
“I watched him when he was a sophomore in high school and it was an impressive 5ATexas highlight film. He’s got ability,” Holgorsen said. “They’ve got a lot of guys with ability. The good news is that there’s only one ball, so that ball can only go to one of them. Our job is to figure out which one it’s going to and stop it.”
At quarterback, senior Jarrett Lee has done a solid job of managing the Tigers overall. Although he isn’t asked to throw a ton, he’s completed 40 of 59 attempts on the year for 444 yards and three touchdowns. But what sticks out most for Lee is he has just one interception – as a freshman in 2008, he threw 16 INT’s after Ryan Perrilloux was kicked off the team, putting him into the starting role.
“He’s putting the ball where they want him to put the ball,” Holgorsen said. “He’s playing well. He’s got the luxury of having a lot of good people around him, as well.”
Overall, LSU comes into Saturday riding a 35 game non-conference regular season winning streak. West Virginia, meanwhile, is 18-2 in home night games going all the way back to 2000. The Mountaineers are also 22-19-2 all-time against teams out of the SEC.
Kickoff on Saturday is set for 8:12 P.M. Pregame coverage on many MetroNews will begin at 4:00 P.M.
“As the first night game, everyone is fired up about it. I’ve been in a lot of night games that have been sold out with 60,000-110,000 people in it,” Holgorsen said. “There are a lot of good atmospheres out there. The only thing we can worry about is making our place a good atmosphere. Everyone should show up and be loud and enjoy it. It needs to be a constant, too.”
Garrett Cullen
Morgantown
Milan Puskar Stadium will be on the national stage Saturday night in Morgantown as No. 16 West Virginia (3-0) hosts No. 2 LSU (3-0) in a primetime matchup televised on ABC.
Saturday’s contest will be LSU’s third game against a ranked opponent already this year – the Tigers defeated then No. 3 Oregon to open up the year 40-27 and edged then No. 25 Mississippi State team a week ago 19-6.
“You don’t win (two) national championships in a decade and be average, and that doesn’t just turn south very quickly,” said Mountaineer head coach Dana Holgorsen of the Tigers. “They’ve done a good job with sustaining their program. They’ve been in two big games this year, which they’ve handled each opponent fairly easily. To say it’s not going to be a challenge would be crazy.”
Meanwhile, for West Virginia, there’s been an extra buzz around campus throughout the week as ESPN’s College GameDay made the trip to Morgantown for the first time for a football game.
“The amount of eyes looking at our facilities and our stadium and the city of Morgantown and the state of West Virginia will be a positive thing,” Holgorsen said. “The amount of eyes looking at our program, not only the football team, but the athletic program, the city, and the rest of it, is good and I’m fired up about it. I’m glad it’s here and all that stuff is positive.”
The build up for Saturday’s game has certainly set the stage as one of the biggest home matchups for the Mountaineers in quite a while – the last time the West Virginia faced a top three ranked team in Morgantown was 2005 against No. 3 Virginia Tech. West Virginia’s biggest win ever over a ranked opponent in Morgantown came back in 2003 against the third ranked Hokies.
“We want to win and do something big for ourselves and the state West Virginia – it’s a pretty big task, but we’re ready to play ball,” said Mountaineer receiver Stedman Bailey.
A year ago against LSU, West Virginia played well enough to win in Baton Rouge – however, the Mountaineers finished on the wrong end of the scoreboard, 20-14, after totaling just 177 total offensive yards. This year’s game also figures to be a defensive battle as well as the Tigers are loaded on that side of the ball, especially.
LSU comes into Saturday ranked sixth in the country in total defense and third at stopping the run – the Tigers have given up just under 48 rushing yards per game so far this year.
“They are wherever the ball is,” Holgorsen said. “They get there really fast, and they’re pretty impressive once they get there. You can study their personnel all
you want to, but they’re all capable of making plays. The way they get to the ball and the nature in which they get there is pretty impressive.”
Defensively for the Tigers, 17 of the 21 players on the two-deep have at least one tackle for a loss. Sophomore defensive back Tyrann Mathieu leads the team overall with 24 tackles.
“I respect their defense a lot – they swarm to the ball,” said Mountaineer center Joey Madsen. “We’ve been watching film and every time, there’s at least eight guys going to the ball. They come off of the ball hard, they use their hands a lot and they’re not bull rushers or anything – we’ve just got to set back and pick everything up.”
Madsen is a part of a Mountaineer offensive line, meanwhile, which took a lot of heat following wins over Marshall and Norfolk State where the running game struggled to get going. However, in week three against Maryland, there was a noticeable improvement along the line and in the running game overall.
“The first two weeks, we got on guys like we always do and our techniques were sound and everything was fine – we just weren’t finishing guys,” Madsen said. “Against Maryland, we started finishing guys and putting guys on the ground and that was how we scored.”
LSU, meanwhile, is almost a lock to score whenever they get the ball inside the redzone – the Tigers enter Saturday converting on 40 consecutive trips inside the redzone with either a touchdown or field goal. That’s a streak that goes back all the way to October 16th of last year.
This year, a couple of sophomores lead the way for the Tigers rushing the football – 5-foot-11, 223 pound Spencer Ware has 54 carries on the year for 226 yards and three touchdowns while 5-foot-10, 215 pound Michael Ford has 218 yards and four touchdowns on 40 carries.
“It’s a physical nature,” Holgorsen said of the LSU offense. “They’re going to put in a fullback and a tight end and they’re going to get after you. If you put too many people in there, then they’re going to one-on-one you on the outsides with their talented receivers.”
LSU will have one of those talented receivers back in the fold on Saturday who’s been out due to a suspension. 6-foot-1 junior Russell Shepard was forced to sit out the first three games of the season for breaking an NCAA rule – he had 33 catches for 226 yards and two touchdowns last year as a sophomore.
“I watched him when he was a sophomore in high school and it was an impressive 5ATexas highlight film. He’s got ability,” Holgorsen said. “They’ve got a lot of guys with ability. The good news is that there’s only one ball, so that ball can only go to one of them. Our job is to figure out which one it’s going to and stop it.”
At quarterback, senior Jarrett Lee has done a solid job of managing the Tigers overall. Although he isn’t asked to throw a ton, he’s completed 40 of 59 attempts on the year for 444 yards and three touchdowns. But what sticks out most for Lee is he has just one interception – as a freshman in 2008, he threw 16 INT’s after Ryan Perrilloux was kicked off the team, putting him into the starting role.
“He’s putting the ball where they want him to put the ball,” Holgorsen said. “He’s playing well. He’s got the luxury of having a lot of good people around him, as well.”
Overall, LSU comes into Saturday riding a 35 game non-conference regular season winning streak. West Virginia, meanwhile, is 18-2 in home night games going all the way back to 2000. The Mountaineers are also 22-19-2 all-time against teams out of the SEC.
Kickoff on Saturday is set for 8:12 P.M. Pregame coverage on many MetroNews will begin at 4:00 P.M.
“As the first night game, everyone is fired up about it. I’ve been in a lot of night games that have been sold out with 60,000-110,000 people in it,” Holgorsen said. “There are a lot of good atmospheres out there. The only thing we can worry about is making our place a good atmosphere. Everyone should show up and be loud and enjoy it. It needs to be a constant, too.”
