High rankings and high-def: LSU at Georgia

You and I aren't the only ones looking forward to watching LSU (4-0, 2-0) play Saturday at Georgia (3-1, 2-0). Gary Danielson, lead college football analyst for CBS Sports, put this game on his radar months ago.

It's a high-definition CBS afternoon matchup, and Danielson considers it one of the defining games in the Southeastern Conference.

"LSU-Georgia is one of the seven or eight big games being played in the SEC this year that will determine the championship," said Danielson, who will call the game with Verne Lundquist and Tracy Wolfson beginning at 2:30 p.m. CDT. "Both teams with a victory can really look forward as being a legitimate contender in the conference. This game gives us some insight as to who is going to be in the hunt at the end of the year. The loser is not eliminated, but the winner sure is looking and feeling good where it's headed."

There isn't enough season behind us for statistical rankings to mean as much as we tend to think they do, but the numbers appear to address important areas of concern for both teams. LSU is last among 12 teams in the SEC in total offense. Georgia is 11th in total defense.

The Tigers are 10th in the conference in rushing offense. Georgia is 11th.

"Both teams really need their offensive lines to come through," Danielson said. "LSU has had trouble running the ball. Georgia is having trouble running the ball. They both have rather young quarterbacks, and they don’t want to put the pressure on them. If they can get a good game from their offensive line they can win the game."

LSU's defense, poked and prodded after the season opener at Washington, is feeling good about some aspects of its game. The Tigers have two interception returns for touchdowns after four games. Last year, the only pick-sixes in LSU football games were returned by the other team.

The Tigers had impressive goal-line stands in each of their past two games, including a dramatic stop near the end of a 30-26 victory at Mississippi State.

Chad Jones played a big role in that one. He batted away a third-and-inches pass, then on fourth-and-inches drove back Mississippi State quarterback Tyson Lee after two LSU defenders slowed his progress shy of the goal line.

Earlier in the game, Jones returned a punt 93 yards for a touchdown.

"We have two of the most exciting players in the league facing off against each other," Danielson said about Saturday's game in Athens. "As good as the Tim Tebow-Eric Berry match-up was, A.J. Green, the wide receiver from Georgia, and Chad Jones, the safety from LSU, are two game breakers in the Southeastern Conference -- for that matter, the whole country.

"They both basically won a game for their team this year. Someone in that matchup is going to make a big play, and it will be fascinating to watch them throughout the game."

In one-on-one corner-on-receiver coverage, watching LSU's Patrick Peterson and Green should be equally compelling.

Green caught eight passes for 153 yards and a career-long 56-yard touchdown in Georgia's 20-17 victory against Arizona State. Like Jones earlier that day, he made a special-teams play that made a difference in the score.

Green blocked a field goal attempt, and with Georgia needing a first down on third-and-six from their 42, he adjusted to the ball to make a catch that extended the drive and helped the Bulldogs put away the Sun Devils.

Georgia is the only SEC team Les Miles hasn't defeated, and the Bulldogs won with authority in both victories against Miles: 34-14 in the 2005 SEC Championship Game, and 52-38 last year in Tiger Stadium.

LSU hasn't won in Athens since 1987. The Bulldogs have a three-game winning streak there against the Tigers, including the October surprise of 2004, Georgia's 45-16 tattoo job on the Tigers. David Greene completed a modest 10 passes that day, but five were for touchdowns.

One streak the Tigers would like to end: LSU hasn't won on CBS since the 2007 SEC Championship Game victory against Tennessee. All five losses last season were televised by CBS.

LSU enters October with a top-10 record for the fifth consecutive season, but there is a note of caution about its No. 4 ranking. That's where the Tigers were ranked (by AP) to start October a year ago, before what turned out to be an 8-5 season.

With LSU scheduled to return home to play No. 1-ranked and reigning national champion Florida a week from Saturday, expect Danielson and Lundquist to not only assess the Tigers' performance against Georgia but measure it against the perceived standard in the league, the Gators.

Earlier this week Danielson talked about the shift in strategy he expects by Urban Meyer's team, a change that would affect the LSU game.

"Tim Tebow’s concussion will have an effect on the play-calling for Florida for the rest of the year," Danielson said. "Subconsciously or consciously, they are going to be aware that they can’t afford to lose Tebow. They can’t have him take numerous hits. They are going to be watching that he lasts.

"They will not want to test it again, and it will effect how they call their games from now on. So, that will be something to watch for the rest of the year."

Another interesting conversation piece will be LSU freshman Russell Shepard. Last month on this blog, Danielson talked about how he thought the Tigers should use -- and not use -- Shepard.

"If Russell Shepard is the leader of this team," Danielson said, "they are not going to be a good football team."

The context suggested Danielson meant if Shepard has to be the leader, LSU is in trouble, but his comments set off a spirited debate that included Tim Brando and Spencer Tillman of the CBS studio crew.

Tillman watched Shepard play high school football in Houston, where Tillman lives, and predicted Shepard would be more than a handful once Miles and the Tigers figured out how to use him in the offense.

"Whatever they do, he is going to be a nightmare for anybody that is forced with the challenge of trying to defend him because the kid is -- as you said, Tim -- he has the leadership giftings of a Tim Tebow, maybe even stronger, and that's a hell of a statement to make, but I've been around this kid long enough to make that assessment, and I'm telling you his physical giftings are along the lines of a Percy Harvin," Tillman said.

"This kid is a phenomenal athlete, and what Les is probably trying to do is keep this in his back pocket as long as he can, until he needs to unveil it. Mark my words. You mark this thing down: This kid is going to be a prolific player for LSU."

The back-pocket comment is timely because LSU fans wondered where Shepard was in the second half at Mississippi State, and in their eyes, the time for the unveiling is now. How much Shepard touches the ball -- and how much, if at all, he's used as a decoy -- is sure to come up throughout the game.

The LSU-Georgia game will be streamed live and free of charge on CBSSports.com. Each week CBS Sports’ "SEC Game of the Week" is available on CBSSports.com and can be accessed through a link on the Web sites of CBS affiliates.

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Carl Dubois has written or blogged about LSU sports since 1999. He appreciates the positive vibes he's received from readers on this site, but he's a realist about the reasons. Since he began writing here, LSU is 34-8 in the two sports he's covered (30-8 in baseball, ending in a national championship, and 4-0 in football). He doesn't expect as many warm fuzzies in the next month, when the football team confronts the meat of its schedule. You can contact him at carl1061 'at' gmail.com.