Something to worry about at WVU

Two years ago, the Tigers had to frequently play in rain and on sloppy fields, and they struggled as a result. The only loss I can remember that was directly contributable to the weather and field conditions was the Cap One Bowl to PSU. There's not a doubt in my mind that the Tigers would have crushed them on a reasonable surface.

We also had a very tough time at Mississippi State on a lousy field. Bad weather and field conditions are a great equalizer and almost always hurt the faster, more athletic team.

I believe that LSU had trouble developing in 2009 because of all the games that were played in rain and on wet surfaces. Thus, the 9-4 record with all losses after September.

I don't like the weather forecast this week for Morgantown. Chances are that there will be substantial rain between now and gametime. If I was a Mountaineer coach, I would ask the field maintenance folks to water the field heavily in addition to the rain.

Right now, the Vegas spread is 5.5 to 6 points. The over/under is 50.5. I think both sets of numbers would be higher if the weather forecast all week was fair, and the Tigers could depend upon fast and firm turf.

Sloppy fields not only make for closer and lower scoring games, they cause injuries and tend to favor the home team, who has a better grasp, due to experience, of what footwear to use on their home field. At a minimum, they can be more responsive to changing field conditions.

I see that the chance of rain on Saturday is only 40% in Morgantown. I also see the weather map, and there is somewhere between a 30 and 60% chance of rain every day this week. If you know anything about probability, the chance that it will not rain substantially this week is very low.

I don't want to see any Tigers injured, and I don't want to see Tiger defenders having to play soft for fear fo slipping and giving up a big play. I do believe that LSU has much more power and size than WVU and acknowledge that sloppy conditions could favor the Tigers in the power game.

I just hope the track is good enough to avoid injuries, allow continued development of all three phases of the Tiger game and make for a fair contest, which I believe LSU will dominate.