Finally, the LSU Game is Upon Us
Man oh man, the wait from the Spring Games in mid-April, the draft shortly after and then nothing for four months just seemed to drag along. Now, we finally get a de-facto home opener in Lambeau Field against the Louisiana State University Tigers, coached by Les Miles (and defensive coordinator Dave Aranda). So, here is my preview on the LSU game.
To start, let me get the all of the Aranda stuff out of the way. For those of you who don't know, Aranda left Wisconsin after the season to take a higher-paid defensive coordinator position at LSU. I think it is just coincidence that Aranda ended up with the first team on the schedule, and it's not as bad as him leaving for Ohio State, Iowa, Minnesota, or even Purdue. He went to LSU, and unless we meet in a bowl game in the next three seasons, it is unlikely we will face him again prior to him receiving a head coaching position. And remember, having Dave Aranda does not give LSU an advantage over Wisconsin for multiple reasons. One, we probably know Dave Aranda better than he knows us. Two, LSU's high-level recruiting, SEC location, culture of competing for a national title, not just conference title, yearly and it's steady stream of NFL draft picks gives them the advantage (and in some mock drafts, they have seven first rounders). All we have is being in our home state, when you look at it.
To start, LSU has a better running game than us (which says a lot, normally), with Heisman favorite and consensus top 10 preseason NFL draft pick Leonard Fournette leading the charge. LSU has a defense that is already full of studs up front and in the secondary as well, with the linebacking corps being the weak link of the defense. QB Brandon Harris isn't a great QB, but I'd give the advantage to him over first time starter Bart Houston, since Harris has experience and more weapons.
Offensively, we probably are going to struggle, and although we have depth at running back, LSU has a good enough defense to load the box and stop the run. The quartet of Houston, TE Troy Fumagalli, and WR's Rob Wheelwright and Jazz Peavy are vital to winning the game. At least one of those guys must get on the same page with Houston to give us a chance to run the ball and power our way to victory.
Defensively, stopping the run is what our strength is, with probably an even better front seven this year than last. Despite the loss of OLB Joe Schobert, OLB Vince Biegel, TJ Watt, TJ Edwards, Chris Orr, and three-sack-Jack Cichy give us more than enough returning talent at linebacker, and an overall collectively better group. So, it is strength vs. strength, and if things break our way early, I'll give us the edge. Despite losing three starters in the secondary, fourth year starter CB Sojourn Shelton leads the pack and guys like Darius Hillary have had playing experience, just not starting experience.
Don't get me wrong, LSU has a great chance of winning this game and possibly winning easily, but this game was not chosen as the set of College Gameday just because of LSU's presence. We have a chance, and I won't be surprised at all if we win, but blowing them out is a different story entirely. Anything can happen in week 1, so I'm letting my faith dictate my prediction with a final score of 21-20, Wisconsin.
