I'll get to it right off the bat. Boise State has weaknesses this year. The right side of the offensive line (blind side) features two new sophmore starters. The key to disrupting Kellen Moore is pressure. Georgia also has a huge advantage in the secondary as they are deep and strong and the front 7 should be much better this year. Back to the secondary they go up against a Boise group that lost Titus Young and Austin Pettis who combined for more than 400 receptions and more almost 5,000 receiving yards 64 TD's in their careers. Georgia should be able to take advantage with their defense in this game especially if their athleticism up front gives Boise issues.
Also Boise has inexperience in their secondary. Aarron Murray is ready after 24 TD's and just 8 interceptions a year ago with 61% completion rate. If Georgia can run the ball too they win this game but Boise is very strong against the run though they gave up 269 to Nevada and 250 to Utah State down the stretch so they can be run on and Georgia's offensive line is much bigger than the Dline of Boise... Look for this to be a key in the 2nd half. Lastly Georgia has the best special teams in the nation and it can be a huge advantage in what I think will be a lower than expected scoring game. They feature the best kicker in Blair Walsh and Georgia was also 19th in turnover margin something that led Boise to winning at Virginia Tech a year ago 33-30. Boise was really lucky to win that game and I expect Georgia to be a little more ready knowing how big this game is. Note Boise is 0-4 vs. the SEC. Their non-conference schedule is still weak looking back at previous 3 years and all the success. I mean they had Vtech and Oregon state out of the ACC and the Pac 10 and Oregon the year before, but overall those conferences are not the SEC. Boise always has a weak schedule we are just stating the fact and I think Boise will not be as good as last year's team with the 3 glarring weaknesses on the blind side of offensive line, the inexperience wide receivers (good Georgia secondary), and the inexperience in Boise's secondary (Aarron Murray accurate passer can take advantage).
All the hype surrounding the loss of Jordan Jefferson is over rated and the Ducks now losing players to suspensions as well including all american corner back Cliff Harris which basically washes out WR Russel Shephard's suspension. Randle in my opinion is the better WR anyhow at 6-4. I have more confidence in Jarret Lee than most as he does have experience and LSU has 7 starters back on defense that was 16th in the nation on 3rd down conversion defense 35%. They have extremely fast athletic guys all over especially at corner back despite the loss of Patrick Peterson Morris Claiborne is going to be an All American at corner.
Why LSU might win.. Oregon is not used to playing games this competitive this early in the season the last time was vs. Boise on the road where they scored just 8 points. When teams have time to prepare for this fast paced offense the Ducks struggle. The last 3 times opponents have had time to prepare were the Rose Bowl in 2009, the National Championship in 2010, and opener in 2009, we throw the opener of 2010 out because they faced New Mexico. IN those three games Oregon's powerful offense scored 8, 17, and 17 points. They face a very good defense in LSU that has the recipe to stop them. This is also a team that was tied with Auburn at Auburn with 6 minutes to play at 17-17 so I expect big things from them tonight in Cowboys Stadium where they will have more fans.
