LSU vs. Tennessee 2011: 5 Reasons Tigers Avoid Upset

The Tennessee Volunteers have waited a year and some odd days to extract revenge on the LSU Tigers, but Tigers avoid the upset in Week 7.

Looking at this game on paper, I can't help but picture Star Wars' Admiral Ackbar screaming, "It's a trap!"

The setup is there.

Tennessee wants revenge from last year's 16-14 loss to LSU when Stevan Ridley rushed into the end zone with zero seconds on the clock in Tiger Stadium, and knowing college football, it's the unranked teams that usually surprise top-ranked teams with a monumental upset.

Appalachian State ring any bells? Or in LSU's case, what about Kentucky's overtime victory over the top-ranked Tigers in 2007?

Even though old familiar signs point to an upset,  the Tigers will leave Knoxville Saturday night unscathed, and these are the reasons why.

LSU Not Changing Identity and That's What's Best

This 2011 LSU team has an identity that would make Bear Bryant do cartwheels, and that's ground-and-pound teams to death on offense and suffocate teams with a dominant defense.

No more driving fans insane with options to the short side of the field, instead this team pounds the ball at the heart of the defense.

In LSU's last performance against Florida, the Tigers had 238 yards rushing and 215 yards passing. What has been a big part of the Tigers' success this year has been their ability to draw the safeties up, and burn the defense with a deep Jarrett Lee pass.

As long as the Tigers keep up this trend, the Vols could find themselves down by double digits by the end of the first half.

Bray is Hurt

Undoubtedly, the Vols have suffered big-time injuries to their offense.

First came the Justin Hunter ACL injury that has placed him on the bench for the duration of the season, and now the Vols will play the Tigers without their starting quarterback and best player on their team, quarterback Tyler Bray.

Bray suffered a broken right thumb injury against the Georgia Bulldogs last week and will be out for a couple of weeks.

This really hurts the Vols because I thought their only chance of beating LSU would be through a brilliant performance from Bray.

Before suffering the injury, Bray had 1,579 yards passing and 14 touchdowns with only two interceptions. Talk about a blow to the gut.

Lucky for Tennessee, Matt Simms has experience. Then again, this is the Tigers defense we're talking about. You know the team that's played Oregon, West Virginia, Mississippi State and Florida, and they've still managed to rank eighth in the nation in points allowed with 12.5 a game.

Without Bray, the Vols' chances of beating LSU went from scarce to nearly impossible.

Why Is 8 Afraid of 7? Tyrann Mathieu

You can go ahead and call me Tyrann Mathieu's official campaign manager for Heisman, because honestly, who deserves the Heisman more at this point of the season than the Honey Badger?

First, let's talk preseason. All summer and fall, I hyped this guy up on this website by calling him LSU's best player and one of the best playmakers in the SEC. I under-hyped him.

He's not only LSU's best player and one of the best playmakers in the SEC, but I'll go as far as saying he's the best player in college football.

Mathieu has created 11 turnovers in only 19 career games. That's insane. Through six games, Mathieu has four forced fumbles and two interceptions.

I mean, the guy is averaging a turnover a game. As long as LSU has No. 7 on that defense, the Vols offense is at a disadvantage.

Tauren Poole's Disappointing Season

Has there been a more disappointing performance so far in the SEC this year than Tauren Poole? OK, it hasn't been as big as the Stephen Garcia situation, but this is still bad.

Thought to be a top-seven running back in the SEC, Poole was expected to lead the Vols on offense along with Bray. So far this season, Poole has rushed for 325 yards on 78 carries, and he has yet to score a touchdown since the Vols' season-opener.

To make matters worse, Poole is now questionable for Saturday as he is nursing a hamstring injury, and coach Derek Dooley has dubbed him day-to-day.

It's not looking good for the Vols as they could be playing one of the best defenses in the nation without their starting quarterback and running back.

Even LSU's Punter Has Swagger

Not everyone is a fan of a cocky, trash-talking team, but I love it. I love it especially when you can talk trash and back it up.

There's nothing worse than someone who talks trash and can't back it up.

Last Saturday against the Florida Gators, Brad Wing introduced himself to the world as the Australian punter who can not only talk the talk and walk the walk.

Wing got called back for a celebration penalty after scoring on a fake punt. Not to get too off-point here, but how ridiculous is that rule? I hate celebration penalties period, but to take a touchdown away? Come on, man. It's the most exciting sport in the world, let the players celebrate.

Anyway, if LSU's Australian punter has that much swagger, imagine the swagger the rest of the team has. Honestly, you really don't have to. Just watch Mathieu verbally abuse his opponent the entire game.