2010 West Virginia Mountaineers Preview: LSU

In late September, the Mountaineers will make their first descent into Death Valley in their fifth game of the 2010 season. This game will mark the first matchup between West Virginia and LSU in the two storied program's histories.

West Virginia will once again embark into Southeastern Conference territory after coming up short to Auburn 41-30 last September.

After five years under head coach Les Miles, the Tigers come into the year with mixed perceptions of what is anticipated of the team. In his tenure, Miles has accumulated 51 wins along with the 2007 National Championship, but will be under pressure from the Tiger faithful this upcoming season.

This past season, LSU finished with an 9-4 overall record, going 5-3 in conference play. The Tigers have failed to win the SEC West division since their championship season of 2007 finishing third in 2008 and coming up short of Alabama in second place last year.

On the field, the Tigers offense didn’t have much of a roar as it had in the past seasons with only 25 points per game leaving them at 10th in the SEC and 76th in the national rankings.

LSU finished last in the SEC in total offense with just over 300 yards per game which came in at 112th in the nation. The passing game was inconsistent with more than 180 yards a game that brought the Tigers in at ninth in the SEC and 97th nationally. The ground game did worse by only gaining 123 yards per game that brought them in at 11th in the SEC and 90th in the nation.

The quarterback position was a point of unpredictability throughout the 2009 campaign. Under center for the Tigers, quarterbacks Jordan Jefferson and Jarrett Lee led the team for at least eight games last season. Jefferson finished last season with more than 2,100 yards through the air with 17 touchdowns and 7 interceptions and seems to be the leading candidate to be the quarterback for 2010.

For the upcoming season, LSU will be led by a trio of impressive running backs including fifth year senior Richard Murphy. Murphy will be a wild card while Freshman Michael Ford will be the most explosive and complete back on the depth chart. Stevan Ridley, who will be a junior, will be the work horse of the unit handling the majority of the inside-the-tackles runs during the season.

In the pass catching department, Terrance Tolliver will begin his senior season as the leading receiver with more than 700 yards on 53 catches while pulling down three touchdowns in 2009.

The Tigers defense kept them in all of their games in the 2009 season, allowing only 16 points a game. LSU finished out the season at third in the SEC and 11th in nation.

The Tigers total defense came in at the middle of the pack at sixth with 327 yards a game in conference play which translated to being the 26th best defense in the nation. The pass rush held fellow conference rivals to 194 yards through the air and the run blockers kept opponent’s running game in check with only 133 yards on the ground for eighth in the SEC.

On the national radar, LSU’s pass and rushing defense both ranked in the top 50 with marks of 29th and 46th respectively.

Linebacker Kelvin Sheppard will lead the young defense that should feature a stronger run defense than in the previous season. Sheppard led the team in tackles with 110 in 2009. Along with Sheppard, Patrick Peterson is a potential first round pick in a talented secondary that is recognized as one of the best shut down cornerbacks in the nation.

The Mountaineers have not experienced this kind of fierce environment in the Big East or in recent out-of-conference action. The atmosphere in Tiger Stadium on a Saturday night in Baton Rouge might be too much to overcome with depth issues and the breaking in of new quarterback Geno Smith since the departure of former starter Jarrett Brown.

The Tigers will have home field on their side which will lead to the Mountaineers’ first defeat of the 2010 season at a clip of 28-24.