Guest Panel-Final Standings

Below are the final standings for the guest panel. Congratulations to Batman, as he had the best bowl game record and jumped to first in the final standings. This is a repeat championship for Batman. He will receive a certificate and an Ohio State t-shirt. Thanks to the guest panel for another season of picks and funny commentary. The guest panel will likely return next season, perhaps with some additional panelists, look for a post in August.

Final Standings:

1. Batman (72-36) (22-10 in bowl games)

2. Dr. Funkenstein (70-38) (19-13 in bowl games)

3. Man Getting Hit by Football (69-39) (17-15 in bowl games)

4. Philly Cheese (68-40) (17-15 in bowl games)

4. Nearsighted Nelly (68-40) (18-14 in bowl games)

6. David Boston's Career (64-44) (17-15 in bowl games)

7. Spamsandwichsan (63-45) (15-17 in bowl games)

7. Pat Head (63-45) (20-12 in bowl games)

Secret Weapon for OSU?

QB Antonio Henton has moved up the depth charts to second, while Schoenhoft is working out with the tight ends. Henton struggled in the spring, but after a good summer, he earned some playing time. His season appeared to end when he was arrested in late September for soliciting an undercover police officer posing as a prostitute. Henton missed one week of practice, but was able to practice the rest of the season and not play in a game until his matter was settled in court. He was restored to full status before the Michigan game. Offensive coordinator Bollman said there is no plan to play Henton, but there is a chance he will play. It is likely that LSU is preparing for the possibility of Henton having some minutes. I could see Henton coming in for a few plays, but not necessarily a series, unless OSU has a comfortable lead. Henton's ability to run could add another dimension to the offense.

Which LSU team will show up?

The Tigers have had an up and down year, yet they find themselves in the National Championship game. The team's chance of reaching the game appeared to vanish on two different occasions, when the team was ranked #1 and lost, yet they find themselves in the National Championship game. Les Miles has gambled on many fourth down plays this season, yet they find themselves in the National Championship game. LSU started strong with some convincing wins, most notably against eventual ACC champion Virginia Tech. The team did beat Florida, Auburn, and Tennessee, but the margin of victory for all of those games was seven points or less and it took an incredible play to beat Auburn. The Tigers should have beaten Kentucky and Arkansas, and the game against Alabama was too close for comfort and Ole Miss racked up 466 yards and may have won if not for four turnovers. This LSU team has the talent and ability to win the National Championship game, but team has squeaked by and rolled the dice often. College football is not a very forgiving sport, and you don't want to leave a lot to chance.

Scouting the Tigers

Offense
LSU has used two quarterbacks this season, Matt Flynn and Ryan Perrilloux. Flynn has had the most minutes, but he missed Middle Tennessee and the SEC Championship game against Tennessee due to a sprained ankle and a shoulder injury. Flynn has been listed as the starting quarterback for the National Championship game. So far this season Flynn has completed 55% for 2233 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. Perrilloux is 68% for 694 yards, 8 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions. Leading in receiving is Brandon LaFell with 641 yards and three touchdowns. Two other receivers are Demetrius Byrd with 593 yards and 7 touchdowns, and Early Doucet has 474 yards and four touchdowns. Running the ball is Jacob Hester with 1017 yards and 11 touchdowns and 458 yards and 6 touchdowns. Both QBs Flynn and Perrilloux will run the ball and have 207 yards/4 TDS and 203 yards/2 TDS respectively.

Defense
LB Lineman Glenn Dorsey leads this unit. He went to many of the same award ceremonies as OSULaurinaitis, among the awards he won were the Lombardi, Outland, Lott and the Nagurski. He won those awards despite missing playing time with a knee injury. All reports indicate he will be healthy enough for this game. Some other important players on defense are defensive lineman Tyson Jackson, corner Chevis Jackson, and safety Craig Steltz.

Special Teams
At kicker Colt David is 25 of 32 with a long of 49, but he is only 12/15 for 30-39 yards, 6/9 for 40-49 yards, and 0/1 for 50+ yards. He is 58/58 for PATs. Punting the ball is Pat Fisher with a long of 61 yards. The leading punt returner is Chad Jones with 6.5 yards/punt. Leading in kickoff returns is Trindon Holliday with 26 yards/kickoff, with a 98 yard return for a touchdown.

This Season
LSU enters the BCS National Championship game as the first two loss team in BCS history. The team started out winning the first six games against Mississippi State, Virginia Tech, Middle Tennessee, South Carolina, Tulane, and Florida then while ranked #1 they lost at Kentucky in triple overtime. After that the team dropped to #4 and won the next four games to Auburn, Alabama, Louisiana Tech, and Mississippi. LSU climbed the rankings again to #1, but lost to Arkansas in triple overtime. LSU won the SEC West and earned a trip to Atlanta for the SEC Championship, where they beat Tennessee to win the SEC.

Les Miles

Les Miles turned down his dream job of returning to his alma mater Michigan. It appeared to all, especially Kirk Herbstreit, that Miles would accept the job, but to our surprise he had a press conference before the SEC Championship game stating that he would stay at LSU. Time will tell if Miles made the correct decision. There have been reports that some of the LSU fans wanted him to leave, but that could change with a National Championship. At LSU he is 33-6, and overall he is 61-27 at Oklahoma State and LSU. Prior to that he was an assistant coach at Michigan under Schembechler, at Colorado, then again at Michigan, at Oklahoma State, and then with the Dallas Cowboys. Before coaching, he played football for Schembechler at Michigan, and prior to that he played high school football in Elyria, Ohio.

As a head coach he has only opposed Ohio State once, and that was in the Alamo Bowl in 2005 with Oklahoma State, where his team was beat 33-7, with only one touchdown occurring in the fourth quarter. In that game Zwick started for Smith, with Smith serving a two game suspension. Zwick played the entire game, even after suffering a hamstring pull. Ohio State did not pull him out, in an effort to keep freshman Todd Boeckman from playing and losing a year of eligibility.

Records against SEC and LSU

I am sure you are familiar with the 0-8 record of Ohio State in bowl games with SEC opponents. Those losses being against Alabama (1978), Auburn (1989), Georgia (1992), Alabama again (1994), Tennessee (1995), twice to South Carolina (2000 and 2001), and of course last year to Florida.

OSU is 7-10-2 overall against teams that are currently in the SEC, although most of those victories were before the SEC was formed. OSU leads the series against LSU 1-0-1, with a tie at Baton Rouge in 1987 and a win in Columbus in 1988. Unfortunately that victory in 1988 is the only victory by OSU over an SEC team since 1935.