re: I'm really not sold on USC at all

"we can settle this SC vs SEC thing once and for all"

What SC vs. SEC thing? LSU fans have created this rivalry in their minds. Playing in the last 20 years may help create something.

Otherwise, the last 3 or 4 times that SC has played an SEC team, they have buried them.

And this coming from a LSU fan.

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The best WR duo in the country

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How can you say this without any justification? Have they ever faced an elite secondary? No. Scoring a bunch of TDs against a god awful UCLA team last year does not make you "the best WR duo in the country".

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How can you say this without any justification?

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Call it the "eyeball test" then - the SEC seems just fine with this type of justification.

Has Bama ever faced an elite QB or passing game? They seem to have won the national title with everyone slobbering over their D without complaining about the QBs they faced in the title game.

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I hate to start yet another USC bashing thread but I would really like to know why people think they are so good. I'm sorry but you don't go from being blown out by Arizona State one year to being No. 1

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Bama lost to ULM in 07 and went undefeated in the regular season in 08, so it's not unheard of.

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its a depth issue with USC, imo

thats why i dont think they will beat Oregon even once, much less twice.. and if they do, and get to the NCG against LSU or Alabama, that will be what prevents them from winning

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Entirely reasonable.

USC will be huffing and puffing against Oregon and LSU/Bama just have too many athletes to stay fresh in a USC matchup.

Even if USC doesn't have any injuries, the backups are too green...considering quite a few starters are young as hell as well on defense.

USC is one of those teams where vital areas on both sides of the ball are on different timelines of development.

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Has Bama ever faced an elite QB or passing game? They seem to have won the national title with everyone slobbering over their D without complaining about the QBs they faced in the title game.

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Tyler Wilson? Arkansas had an excellent offense last year and Bama shut them down. LSU's offense wasn't the greatest show on turf obviously but it was still very good and the way Bama shut us down completely was impressive. When USC lights up an elite defense then I'll be happy to hear that their offense is elite.

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Entirely reasonable. USC will be huffing and puffing against Oregon and LSU/Bama just have too many athletes to stay fresh in a USC matchup. Even if USC doesn't have any injuries, the backups are too green...considering quite a few starters are young as hell as well on defense. USC is one of those teams where vital areas on both sides of the ball are on different timelines of development.

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Fair point. Although I was impressed with the opener against Hawai'i, it was Hawai'i, not Oregon, LSU or Bama. Our 75 has to be better than everyone else's 85. Not just the first 22. What was encouraging was the play of the DL, and the fact that 26 players got their first start at USC. What was discouraging was that we allowed a TD. That shouldn't have happened.

It really isn't a specific anti-USC thing...it's just a fact that when teams are put above LSU in the polls for no justifiable reason, then we're obviously not going to be happy. I don't have very much specific hate towards USC (in fact I had NONE at all before the whole cheating incident). You can call it jealousy if you want: I'm jealous that your team doesn't have to achieve as much to receive a higher ranking.

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It really isn't a specific anti-USC thing...it's just a fact that when teams are put above LSU in the polls for no justifiable reason, then we're obviously not going to be happy. I don't have very much specific hate towards USC (in fact I had NONE at all before the whole cheating incident). You can call it jealousy if you want: I'm jealous that your team doesn't have to achieve as much to receive a higher ranking.

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Well, here's a few things I think we did better than LSU last Saturday:
1. Defended against the run. Hawai'i is a pass first team though, so not sure that matters much.
LSU did pretty good in this category too, just not as good as SC.(USC#15, LSU#28 vs the run)

2. Passed the ball very effectively. First play from scrimmage was a long TD from Barkley to Marquise Lee. There were a few more of those TD's, to various receivers. SC is 5th in passing offense, and 14th in passing efficiency. LSU is unranked in the former category, and 49th in the latter.

3. Sack the other guy's QB. We got 5 on it. I don't think y'all got any.

4. One notable category LSU performed well in was defend the pass well. UNT was held to 8 completions on 23 attempts for 143 yds. and one INT. UH passed for 24 completions on 39 attempts, for a total of 208 yds,1 TD and 2 INT's.
LSU is ranked #22 in pass defense while USC is not ranked.

5. LSU forced 2 turnovers, USC forced 4. LSU also
lost a fumble and gave up an INT, while USC fumbled once, leaving the Tigers even and USC +3 on turnover margin.

Keeping in mind there are lies, damned lies and statistics, if you had to ask yourself what people were thinking when they ranked USC ahead of LSU this week, this might help.

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Well when the media took half of our national championship and gave it to you, that was bound to piss some of us off. But honestly I've stopped caring because it's been vacated anyway and we're the ones with the crystal ball.

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LSU won the 2004 BCS National Championship?

AP doesn't take half of anything. They vote their own champion. USC was #1 in their poll before the bowls in 2003...giving it to LSU would have been taking something that was USC's.