LSU at Texas preview (in depth)

D-Line: DE- Ta'Quon Graham- Junior, DE- Malcolm Roach- Senior, NT- Gerald Wilbon- Senior: The Texas D-Line will be recovering from the loss of Charles Omenihu who was a elite pass rusher. Texas fans are confindent that Roach will have a re-surging year and become their go-to pass rusher. Gerald Wilbon has done basically nothing in his 3 prior seasons with only 19 tackles combined. However fans are confident that he takes a huge step in his senior season. Finally, Graham had 2 sacks last season along with 14 tackles, so they will need much more production from him.
EDIT: Keondre Coburn has reportedly earned the starting spot over Wilbon. Coburn is a redshirt freshman who recorded 2 tackles last year in his redshirt season.

My Take: This is an underwhelming D-Line depth chart in terms of returning production, so I like our chances. Roach is the most accomplished on the D-Line, but in the past two seasons he has not lived up to his freshman campaign, where he recorded 3 sacks. They hope that he can return to is prior form. They, for some reason, have confidence in Wilbon saying he pushed around Georgia a lot, but he only recorded 1 tackle in the game. I'm not high on their D-line and I honestly think that we will have the advantage, but they still could disrupt some plays. It will be intresting to see Roach and McCulloch (The Buck OLB) take on Deculus and Charles.

LB: Buck- Jeffrey McCulloch- Senior, MLB- Ayodele Adeoye- Freshman, OLB- Joseph Ossai- Sophomore: Texas fans feel that Linebacker is the weakness of the defense after losing Breckyn Hager, Anthony Wheeler, and Gary Johnson who were the heart of their defense. All the guys I listed as starters are still in position battles so it is still TBA on who starts, but it is clear that it will be a weakness. LB has dominated the talk on their boards, and it seems like it will be a hope for the best situation.

My Take: Linebacker is definitely going to be a weakness for Texas. All you have to do is look at the "FR" next to their projected starting MLB and see that there may be some growing pains. If LSU is interested in using RPO's, I would suggest that Texas would be a great team to start against. Texas fans are confident because they say that these newer guys are more highly rated than the previous guys, so they lose experience for talent which may be a good thing. I beg to differ because it takes in game experience for guys to gel. Devin White did not start his first season for LSU because he needed time to learn.

CB: Anthony Cook- Sophomore, Jalen Greene- Sophomore: Texas fans really like their corners coming into the season because both were highly rated recruits. They think both of these guys will need a little time to gel but once they do they will be the best duo in the country. Both guys played in almost every game last year, but it was because of their special teams involvement.

My Take: My take on these two are completely different than Texas fans. I think they are delusional in their talking about these two guys. They are right that both came out of high school highly touted, but all the good news ends there. Cook started one game last season against Oklahoma State (Because of an injury) where he defended OKSt's Tylan Wallace who had 222 receiving yards. It was clear all last year that Cook wasn't quite ready for primetime, but he will be thrown in the spotlight this upcoming year. Greene didn't get many snaps at corner last year, so I don't have any stories to tell. I think that this will be the key area for LSU to attack. If they put their guys in man to man coverage to stop the run, the pass will be there, but if they protect the pass the run should be there.

S: Caden Sterns- Sophomore, Brandon Jones- Senior: This is probably the best safety duo in the entire country. Both of these guys are absolutely insane players. Caden Sterns, who was once a LSU commit, showed out last season and is poised for another massive year. Sterns, crazy enough, plays a lot like Delpit, and is also on track to become a top 10 pick in the 2021 NFL draft. Jones is not quite as talented as Sterns but far good enough to hold his own. Both of these guys are play-makers and we definitely could see them make a few plays against LSU. (I share the same opinions as Texas fans here so their opinion is mine)



Defensive Gameplan:
Sam Ehlinger is a really good quarterback that will force you to cover the air and ground. He may be inconsistent in his middle and long passes, but he can still easily rip you apart. If I'm LSU I would take the "you will have to beat my best players" approach to the game. I would make sure to stop the Texas running game and force Ehlinger and the receiving core to beat your best position group. If you take the run out of a power spread concept, it becomes easier to cover.

Offensive Gameplan:
Texas's weakness is going to be their front 7. I think we will be able to run the ball, but if they do stack the box our receivers should be good enough to beat their corners 1v1. Their advantage is the play-makers they have at safety and they will put those guys all over the field like we do with Delpit. I think we should have no problem moving the ball on their defense, but if we are not clicking Texas can definitely take advantage.


How will the game go?
I really don't know. This can be a grind it out type of game because Texas plays great and the crowd throws fuel on the fire. Or LSU could do what they did to Miami last season. This game can go either way, but at the end of the day LSU is clearly more talented and more experienced, so that should give you hope. My hope is that the offense doesn't come out and things just aren't clicking, while Texas is just on fire on that given night. Basically a fear a perfect storm like Ohio State at Purdue last year. Basically saying, if we come out and play our game we will have no problem with them, but things do happen.

My Prediction
LSU: 34
Texas: 22

Great Job Radar!

You were pretty close, but I think you undersold what Texas is bringing to the table both offensively and defensively.

Texas linebacker crew will not be a weakness. We will also fill the gaps with safety 5* BJ Foster and safety 5* Damarvion Overshown,both are true headhunters.

Jamison and Green will be on the corners, both are elite in my opinion, but lack experience. This is my only concern heading into the season.

I also laugh at the notion of our D-line being soft or a weakness. Coburn and Ojomo are monsters on the inside and Roach and Graham will be on the wings.

Our offensive is extremely strong and loaded with talent.

Our receiving is going to be a handful for any defense. With a jumbo package of Collins(6-6)Epps(6-6)and Eagles(6-4),they will cause a lot issues for DB's with their height. You can also mix in Jake Smith(National Gatorade Player of the year)and Marcus Washington(Under Armourgame MVP).

Here's a partial practice report from Orangebloods last night.


The biggest development is Moro Ojomo has been moved to nose guard. Gerald Wilbon has been battling a hip injury, and according to my source, Keondre Coburn and Ojomo have excelled. From what I was told, Coburn is currently the starter, and it appears he might lock up that position soon. Ojomo is currently the second-string nose guard, followed by Wilbon.

--- Texas installed a third-down package on Monday that should make your mouth water. The package featured four receivers, but here is the kicker. Collin Johnson and Devin Duvernay were in the slot, while Brennan Eagles and Malcolm Epps were the outside receivers. From what I was told, Johnson replaced Lil’Jordan Humphrey in the slot. Outside of Duvernay, every receiver in the field was tall and fast. When I asked a source to describe how it looked, I was told, “It looked great.”

--- Speaking of looking great, quarterback Casey Thompson has been very impressive during training camp. I was told Thompson continues to improve every day, and nobody inside the building is worried about his skillset. From what I was told, the only concern is how he might handle playing in a game and his inexperience. Nobody knows how Thompson will react in an actual college game. Outside of that, everyone I spoke to believes Thompson has the tools to succeed.

--- I was told Duvernay’s move to the slot has gone very well. There is a lot of speed on the field with him and Brennan Eagles on the same side. This is something to keep an eye on.

--- Out of curiosity, I asked one source how fast Jake Smith really is. I was actually told Smith might be fourth fasted player in the room, behind Duvernay, John Burt and Eagles. Here is what I was told: “The thing that makes him look really fast is he has great acceleration and great change of direction. Elite. He can go from zero to 60 fast. Now, his 60 is not as fast as Duvernay’s 60, but he can also change direction much better than those three guys.”

--- Jeffrey McCulloch did miss practice on Monday due to an illness, but there are no concerns about his long-term health.

--- D’Shawn Jamison and Jalen Green are currently the starting cornerbacks. One source told me Anthony Cook has some ground to make up. For now, Jamison and Green are the starting cornerbacks.

--- Freshman running back Jordan Whittington is the clear backup to Keaontay Ingram. Everybody believes Whittington is the real deal. As a result, Kirk Johnson is currently the third-string running back, while Daniel Young is a situational player.



Jake Smith LINK

The good news is, Texas won't have much film on our new offense bc we won't need to show much vs. Ga Southern.

The bad news is, LSU will still be learning the new offense vs. UT....

Herman's teams over the years tend to play like crazy when they are underdogs, and underachieve vs. lesser talent.

It will be very interesting.

Great analysis. Really enjoyed reading this. frick Texas I hope we drag them up and down the field.

Great read and thanks!

LSU-41
TU- 17

Good analysis.....

Who are the two 'pencil dick' down votes!


Fukem........

I am not confident this thing will have a clear winner on the line of scrimmage one way or another for the entire game.

I predict it will go a lot like Auburn with some back and forth. Sometimes we look good on defense and at other times just let them get some chunk yardage on the ground and maybe blow a few coverages as happens early in the season.

We edge this one out by having more experience and more returning starters than Texas. The LSU offensive line is much improved. We eat on the ground with a committee of CEH, Curry & Emery.

Texas is at home and I think they will start out well right out of the gate and have some success and get the crowd going. Things settle down after the first quarter and we settle into the game.

Prediction:
LSU wins 31-24

quote:

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I think their O-Line is decent but LSU can definitely manage to get some sacks off of them and slow their running game with penetration. The right side of the O-Line seems to be weaker especially at tackle. This is where I think Chaisson will primarily attack from. Also, I am also interested to see how the grad transfer from Georgia Tech does in pass blocking.

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A full strength Chaisson is going to threaten havoc in the backfield on every play. It will allow the DLine to penetrate and rush more plays as well and should contain Ehlinger from running too effectively. Aranda will employ some tricky pressure with Delpit and Stevens. And I think our corners will be ripe to pick off some rushed throws.

Our Oline will be a big pivot point as well. I've read multiple articles talking about our offensive scheme and how we could see some positive changes as a result from our O-Line. It's important to note what others have previously said.. Our Oline has pretty good technique and when they know who to block, they block very well. Spreading receivers and TEs out allow the O-Line to better read the defense and figure out who their responsibility is pre-snap.

Trying to be as unbiased as possible... I see Texas as having a advantage at QB. Much less drastic than most would think too.

Safety could be about equal.

DLine, Linebackers, Corners, O line and receivers are advantage LSU.

This is better than Phil Steele, totally agree. Big advantage for UT is home field. It's not Tiger stadium but still worth 3 pts. Wish the game was at Jerry World, LSU would be favored by 3 to 7 pts.