To me LSU is not Dan's "THIS IS IT" game

[Lloyd Christmas]

It's going to be incredibly hard to get out of there with a win. They have lost 1 home game in the past 3 years - to #1 Alabama. To me, the big test is winning one between Auburn and A&M. If he can't do that it may never happen.

[Political Hack]

I agree. two home games are more critical than the LSU game.

it's a win-win for me, and I will take a moral victory in this if we show up. I want to know this team can play with anyone and if they can play with a top 10 LSU in tiger stadium on Saturday night, they can play for anyone.

[MarketingBully01]

I think it is a winnable game simply because they are so young. If Wiscy doesn't get injured in the second half and their coach doesn't go full retard, Wiscy blows them out.

[Dawgheadcheese]

We may not win it - but this will be our best opportunity in a long time to go down there and take it.

[Goat Holder]

It's going to be incredibly hard to get out of there with a win.

I realize I'm talking about the voodoo curse and all here, and truth be known we have about 1% of winning this just, well, just because, but........as a team I don't think LSU is that great.

[jumbo]

I agree. two home games are more critical than the LSU game.

it's a win-win for me, and I will take a moral victory in this if we show up. I want to know this team can play with anyone and if they can play with a top 10 LSU in tiger stadium on Saturday night, they can play for anyone.


I'm with you on this one. I'm not expecting a win, but that we compete and play with them for 4 quarters. Now, if it was in Starkville, my thoughts would be different.

[maroonmania]

I agree. two home games are more critical than the LSU game.

it's a win-win for me, and I will take a moral victory in this if we show up. I want to know this team can play with anyone and if they can play with a top 10 LSU in tiger stadium on Saturday night, they can play for anyone.

The 2 home games may be more critical but IMO Texas A&M and Auburn are actually better overall teams right now than LSU so it won't be any easier to win either of the upcoming home games. Going 1-2 in the next 3 may turn out to be a significant achievement since Mullen's teams have never beaten a team ranked as high as any of our next 3 opponents will likely be when we play them.

[EAVdog]

This isn't a 'make or break' type of game. If we win the media will just say LSU was down anyway. But it would go a long way for Dan to have a top ten upset under his belt.

This game is doable but walking out of Tiger Stadium on a Saturday night is hard. I'm really hoping that Day/Dak/Robinson go in with a huge chip on their shoulder.

[Johnson85]

It's going to be incredibly hard to get out of there with a win. They have lost 1 home game in the past 3 years - to #1 Alabama. To me, the big test is winning one between Auburn and A&M. If he can't do that it may never happen.

Dan has to go at least 1-2 out of A&M, Auburn, and LSU. I wish we had LSU at home and A&M on the road because I think LSU might be the most beatable out of that bunch if we're playing all three at home, but as a night game in Baton Rouge, it's probably the least likely. What matters it that however it happens, Mullen has to have his team step up and win one of those three. Win one of those three and avoid a let down against Arky, UK, and UM, and this will be a very good year.

[gtowndawg]

It's going to be incredibly hard to get out of there with a win. They have lost 1 home game in the past 3 years - to #1 Alabama. To me, the big test is winning one between Auburn and A&M. If he can't do that it may never happen.


We're not ranked...we can't lose that.

We're not overhyped like Ole Miss, so a loss isn't going to hurt us in that regard.

Nobody wins there anyway (as you pointed out).


I just hope the players go down there and let it all hang out. Again, we have nothing to lose. They do.

[Goat Holder]

We're not ranked...we can't lose that.

We're not overhyped like Ole Miss, so a loss isn't going to hurt us in that regard.

Nobody wins there anyway (as you pointed out).


I just hope the players go down there and let it all hang out. Again, we have nothing to lose. They do.

This is about the best attitude to have. We really don't have anything to lose. I'd still hate to blow the opportunity.

[fishwater99]

Dan has to go at least 1-2 out of A&M, Auburn, and LSU. I wish we had LSU at home and A&M on the road because I think LSU might be the most beatable out of that bunch if we're playing all three at home, but as a night game in Baton Rouge, it's probably the least likely. What matters it that however it happens, Mullen has to have his team step up and win one of those three. Win one of those three and avoid a let down against Arky, UK, and UM, and this will be a very good year.

If we can't win one of these 3 games, then Dan hasn't taken that next step with our football program.

It's Time...

[MarketingBully01]

The 2 home games may be more critical but IMO Texas A&M and Auburn are actually better overall teams right now than LSU so it won't be any easier to win either of the upcoming home games. Going 1-2 in the next 3 may turn out to be a significant achievement since Mullen's teams have never beaten a team ranked as high as any of our next 3 opponents will likely be when we play them.

Oddly enough, I saw some interesting possibilities in the three man front we utilized on Saturday which might be a great front to use against A&M. We had CJ, Preston and James as the three guys. We could also put Eulls at the nose there too and be okay. This is the formation similar to what Wilson did IMO against a Manziel-led A&M offense which was not smart. However Kenny Hill is more Case Keenum then Manziel and looks to stay in the pocket more then run so a three man front works better against them especially with the DL bodies we can out out there. I would say we could go 2-1 in these next three games and probably lose to Auburn. Their ability to be balanced will give us fits. A&M and LSU are not balanced offenses.

[starkvegasdawg]

Until we knock off an elite team they are all going to be "that game". I think for the psyche of the team and staff we need to do that Saturday. You know they all listen to the reports and are well aware of this stat. They can downplay it all they want but every time we get an opportuniy and come up short it just adds to the pressure. Sooner or later that has to get inside your head and under your skin which just makes things worse. If it goes on long enough you start to go into games with a different mindset. Instead of going in and looking for a way to win you go in waiting for something to happen to cost you the victory. Will it be a blown call by the ref, a dropped pass, missed FG, a blown coverage? I'm not saying this team is at that point yet. I have no idea what their true mindset is. I just know that it is human nature that the longer you keep coming up short the more you expect to keep coming up short. Conversely, we go down their and kick the tigers square in their furry nuts Saturday and walk out with a win then this season just got a whole lot more promise to it.

[HSVDawg]

We have five "THIS IS IT" games in LSU, A&M, Auburn, Alabama, and OM. We need to win two of those, plus every other game on the schedule. With this team that is not an unreasonable expectation. Anything less is a disappointing year in my book.

[Johnson85]

Oddly enough, I saw some interesting possibilities in the three man front we utilized on Saturday which might be a great front to use against A&M. We had CJ, Preston and James as the three guys. We could also put Eulls at the nose there too and be okay. This is the formation similar to what Wilson did IMO against a Manziel-led A&M offense which was not smart. However Kenny Hill is more Case Keenum then Manziel and looks to stay in the pocket more then run so a three man front works better against them especially with the DL bodies we can out out there. I would say we could go 2-1 in these next three games and probably lose to Auburn. Their ability to be balanced will give us fits. A&M and LSU are not balanced offenses.

Wilson copied the 3-4 from LSU, which is what they used to shut down Manziel. We just didn't have the personnel to do that in the first place because LSU had the freak DL that were actually fast enough to contain Manziel. We just ended up in a scheme we werent' comfortable with in addition to having a talent deficit. Still the worst coaching job I've seen as picking the exact wrong scheme to come out against somebody. We weren't going to win that game regardless, but Wilson had us out of it before the 1st quarter was over. Actually probably the most pissed off a game plan has ever gotten me, and I sat through the Maine and 2-3.

[The Croom Diaries]

I think we matchup better against LSU than A&M or Auburn. Despite being on the road, I think it's our best chance at a win of the three at this point.

I did not take whatever voodoo they have over us into account in that statement.

[maroonmania]

I think we matchup better against LSU than A&M or Auburn. Despite being on the road, I think it's our best chance at a win of the three at this point.

I did not take whatever voodoo they have over us into account in that statement.

I agree with this assessment. However, the mental hurdle of beating a team with LSU on their helmets will be the toughest task for our team though.

[CottonDog]

Forget all these excuses half of yall are already giving on why we shouldnt expect to win. We match way better with them than anyone else in the West. This is a must win for our season. Lose this one and here comes the We Are Miss State bullcrap that OM uses with that WAOM stuff. Its time to beat LSU. Period.

[OurState]

We have five "THIS IS IT" games in LSU, A&M, Auburn, Alabama, and OM. We need to win two of those, plus every other game on the schedule. With this team that is not an unreasonable expectation. Anything less is a disappointing year in my book.

OM is not a one of those games. Dan has proven he can beat OM. Plus it is a rivalry game.

[RougeDawg]

I think it is a winnable game simply because they are so young. If Wiscy doesn't get injured in the second half and their coach doesn't go full retard, Wiscy blows them out.

^^^This^^^. This LSU team should have lose week 1 to a one dimensional big 10 team. If our players keep a clear mind and don't let history get them down before kickoff, we will win this game convincingly. If we come out rusty, it will be a fight until the end.

[DownwardDawg]

OM is not a one of those games. Dan has proven he can beat OM. Plus it is a rivalry game.

I agree. Why in the world would we consider ole miss on that list? We beat them every year. That's an expected win.

[Political Hack]

I agree. Why in the world would we consider ole miss on that list? We beat them every year. That's an expected win.

while I generally agree because we whip their ass 80% of the time, last year was paramount. had he gone 5-7 and lost twice to Hugh, the offseason would've been awful. instead, we get the Egg back, win a Liberty bowl, and come with steam into 2014. That game was momentum changer for our program.

[Political Hack]

not to mention we did it with a 3rd string QB.

[Johnson85]

while I generally agree because we whip their ass 80% of the time, last year was paramount. had he gone 5-7 and lost twice to Hugh, the offseason would've been awful. instead, we get the Egg back, win a Liberty bowl, and come with steam into 2014. That game was momentum changer for our program.

It was huge last year to change our momentum, but it still wasn't a game like LSU, Auburn, A&M, and Bama will be this year. Dan has done an incredible job raising the floor of our program. Although we took a step back talent wise after the 2010 year, I think he's been incrementally improving our team since then. You just can't tell because being in the SEC West means you pretty much have to move into the top 15 to see the difference in W's and L's. The next step for Mullen's program is to get there, and Auburn, LSU, A&M, and Bama are the games that give us a chance to do that. While UM is a pretty good team and ranked in the top 10 for now, they are probably going to be in the 20-25 range at best at the end of the season, especially if they lose to us.

[HSVDawg]

OM is not a one of those games. Dan has proven he can beat OM. Plus it is a rivalry game.

I guess I should have phrased it differently, but my point remains. For me, a loss to Ole Miss can be offset by 2 wins against any of the other 4 teams listed, and I'll still consider it a successful year. But if we lose to them and also only beat one out of 4 between Bama, LSU, Auburn, and Texas A&M (or lose all 4), that is subpar. I don't really care how big of a breakthrough the one win would be for Mullen. 8-4 is still 8-4 and with this team and schedule that is not good enough. I won't beat a dead horse any further but as many have stated the stars are aligned for once and we need to take advantage.

[Political Hack]

It was huge last year to change our momentum, but it still wasn't a game like LSU, Auburn, A&M, and Bama will be this year. Dan has done an incredible job raising the floor of our program. Although we took a step back talent wise after the 2010 year, I think he's been incrementally improving our team since then. You just can't tell because being in the SEC West means you pretty much have to move into the top 15 to see the difference in W's and L's. The next step for Mullen's program is to get there, and Auburn, LSU, A&M, and Bama are the games that give us a chance to do that. While UM is a pretty good team and ranked in the top 10 for now, they are probably going to be in the 20-25 range at best at the end of the season, especially if they lose to us.

sorry. I just don't buy into the "can't win the big one" card. Once we beat LSU, it'll be obvious they weren't that good yet because they're so young. Once we beat auburn it'll be another down year for them. Once we beat A&M, everyone will claim they were what everyone thought they were at the beginning of the season. When we beat Ole miss it's because "it's just Ole Miss and we always beat them."

Beating Michigan was huge. Florida was huge. Georgia was huge. Auburn was huge. Arkansas was huge. It's the SEC. Every game is huge.

Let me put it this way... there is no way in hell I'd trade a win this Saturday for that win last November. The continuous bowl streak, having a winning season, winning the Liberty Bowl, the egg back in Vegas, the extra practice reps, dominating your in-conference/in-state rival, etc... That's a win that produces huge effects. A win over LSU is dead in two weeks if we get beat by Auburn and A&M. Likewise, a loss to LSU is dead in two weeks if we beat A&M and Auburn. When that's the case, it's not that "BIG" of a game.

[RougeDawg]

not to mention we did it with a 3rd string QB.

And shut down their offense to 3 points, providing the blueprint to beat them this year. That offense scored one TD the final 8 quarters of the season when teams defended them appropriately.

[gravedigger]

What does an lsu team or a Msu team from 1,2 or 3 years ago ave to do with the game we will play this Saturday?

Superstition. That is all.

[BulldogBear]

sorry. I just don't buy into the "can't win the big one" card. Once we beat LSU, it'll be obvious they weren't that good yet because they're so young. Once we beat auburn it'll be another down year for them. Once we beat A&M, everyone will claim they were what everyone thought they were at the beginning of the season. When we beat Ole miss it's because "it's just Ole Miss and we always beat them."

Beating Michigan was huge. Florida was huge. Georgia was huge. Auburn was huge. Arkansas was huge. It's the SEC. Every game is huge.

Let me put it this way... there is no way in hell I'd trade a win this Saturday for that win last November. The continuous bowl streak, having a winning season, winning the Liberty Bowl, the egg back in Vegas, the extra practice reps, dominating your in-conference/in-state rival, etc... That's a win that produces huge effects. A win over LSU is dead in two weeks if we get beat by Auburn and A&M. Likewise, a loss to LSU is dead in two weeks if we beat A&M and Auburn. When that's the case, it's not that "BIG" of a game.

Strong post. I wouldn't frankly trade any win over Ole Miss for another one.

[Alldawg]

It seems like everyone is already making an excuse for a loss Saturday. I simply do not understand the "Once we beat LSU, it will be obvious they weren't that good" comment. So what is it going to say if Dan loses to that "not very good" team? Why is everyone already making an excuse for a game that features one of Dan's best teams vs one of Les Miles's youngest teams?

[Political Hack]

It seems like everyone is already making an excuse for a loss Saturday. I simply do not understand the "Once we beat LSU, it will be obvious they weren't that good" comment. So what is it going to say if Dan loses to that "not very good" team? Why is everyone already making an excuse for a game that features one of Dan's best teams vs one of Les Miles's youngest teams?

I'm not saying it's going to be a loss. I'm just saying it's not going to define our season win or lose.

[Reason2succeed]

It seems like everyone is already making an excuse for a loss Saturday. I simply do not understand the "Once we beat LSU, it will be obvious they weren't that good" comment. So what is it going to say if Dan loses to that "not very good" team? Why is everyone already making an excuse for a game that features one of Dan's best teams vs one of Les Miles's youngest teams?


Thank you. Negative Nancy was out in full effect. STOP IT, STOP IT, STOP IT. LSU gets no points for their historical domination of this series. Their crowd can't catch a pass of kick a field goal. State needs to come out early and jump on them and not let up for four quarters. That's why I picked us to win going away. It you believe we have no chance to win then you are basically saying that the OM team last year is better than our team this year. But you know that isn't true. If OM can beat them so can we. Enough with the voodoo.

Dak Prescott and JRob are not scared of Death Valley. They are from Louisiana so thru probably grew up wanting to play there. This is their opportunity to show LSU how much they screws up by not recruiting them harder.

[LiterallyPolice]

Thank you. Negative Nancy was out in full effect. STOP IT, STOP IT, STOP IT. LSU gets no points for their historical domination of this series. Their crowd can't catch a pass of kick a field goal. State needs to come out early and jump on them and not let up for four quarters. That's why I picked us to win going away. It you believe we have no chance to win then you are basically saying that the OM team last year is better than our team this year. But you know that isn't true. If OM can beat them so can we. Enough with the voodoo.

Dak Prescott and JRob are not scared of Death Valley. They are from Louisiana so thru probably grew up wanting to play there. This is their opportunity to show LSU how much they screws up by not recruiting them harder.

I think we can go down there and win. But anyone who starts to rationalize away Home Field Advantage (especially in DV) is letting hope cloud their judgment. Home Field Advantage is very real, especially in an environment like DV.

[State82]

I'm not saying it's going to be a loss. I'm just saying it's not going to define our season win or lose.

I completely agree with this. We can win. We can lose. We can lose big. But there are plenty of big fish left to fry if this one comes unbuttoned.

[Johnson85]

sorry. I just don't buy into the "can't win the big one" card. Once we beat LSU, it'll be obvious they weren't that good yet because they're so young. Once we beat auburn it'll be another down year for them. Once we beat A&M, everyone will claim they were what everyone thought they were at the beginning of the season. When we beat Ole miss it's because "it's just Ole Miss and we always beat them."


Beating Michigan was huge. Florida was huge. Georgia was huge. Auburn was huge. Arkansas was huge. It's the SEC. Every game is huge.

Agree. People are stupid with that line of thought. But that doesn't mean we can't go to the next level. We have done well against everybody but top 15 teams. Most teams would kill for that kind of performance. But if we want to improve, that means we have to beat top 15 teams. Doesn't mean Dan doesn't have signature wins or hasn't won big games. It just means the next step is to beat a top 15 team.


Let me put it this way... there is no way in hell I'd trade a win this Saturday for that win last November. The continuous bowl streak, having a winning season, winning the Liberty Bowl, the egg back in Vegas, the extra practice reps, dominating your in-conference/in-state rival, etc... That's a win that produces huge effects. A win over LSU is dead in two weeks if we get beat by Auburn and A&M. Likewise, a loss to LSU is dead in two weeks if we beat A&M and Auburn. When that's the case, it's not that "BIG" of a game.

I agree with this. I think I'm just saying winning any one of the four games against top 15 teams is bigger than the egg bowl because I consider each successive step a bigger step in building a program a bigger step. But you have to have the foundation and getting the occasional win against a top 15 team is not as important as having the program built to where it consistently goes to bowl games and consistently dominates UM.

[fishwater99]

I think we can go down there and win. But anyone who starts to rationalize away Home Field Advantage (especially in DV) is letting hope cloud their judgment. Home Field Advantage is very real, especially in an environment like DV.

I totally agree, it's not an easy place to play, especially at night.. The purple lights will be on..

783

[Reason2succeed]

I think we can go down there and win. But anyone who starts to rationalize away Home Field Advantage (especially in DV) is letting hope cloud their judgment. Home Field Advantage is very real, especially in an environment like DV.

I'm not rationalizing away the home field advantage at Death Valley but when you have a veteran team versus a pretty young team you ought to be able to overcome it. Like I said the crowd can't score points and they can't play defense for LSU. If our team plays efficiently and has focus we can when anywhere. Beyond that and you are just being spooky and superstitious.

[DownwardDawg]

sorry. I just don't buy into the "can't win the big one" card. Once we beat LSU, it'll be obvious they weren't that good yet because they're so young. Once we beat auburn it'll be another down year for them. Once we beat A&M, everyone will claim they were what everyone thought they were at the beginning of the season. When we beat Ole miss it's because "it's just Ole Miss and we always beat them."

Beating Michigan was huge. Florida was huge. Georgia was huge. Auburn was huge. Arkansas was huge. It's the SEC. Every game is huge.

Let me put it this way... there is no way in hell I'd trade a win this Saturday for that win last November. The continuous bowl streak, having a winning season, winning the Liberty Bowl, the egg back in Vegas, the extra practice reps, dominating your in-conference/in-state rival, etc... That's a win that produces huge effects. A win over LSU is dead in two weeks if we get beat by Auburn and A&M. Likewise, a loss to LSU is dead in two weeks if we beat A&M and Auburn. When that's the case, it's not that "BIG" of a game.

I strongly agree with this.

[borne]

We need this one to get over the hurdle. A loss would certainly not ruin the season but a win would catapult us to the front page nationally