Coach Bourque Off To A Blazing Start!

     In case you haven't notice, but I think there is a good chance you have, Coach Bourque started off on fire with his college football picks this past weekend.  He went a whopping 14-1 overall on picks against the spread.  The lone loss coming at the hands of Western Kentucky losing in OT to La. Monroe 43-42. Western Kentucky was a 2.5 pt favorite and had previously covered or beat the spread in it's previous 15 consecutive games. Hard to find a team in any sport that can beat the spread that many games in a row.  So unfortunately all good things must come to an end, and it just so happened to be last weekend.

     Week 9 picks should be posted within the next day or two, so be on the look out.  Become a follower of the blog and be the first to get notified of any updates.

Some quick thoughts on the LSU/TAMU game tomorrow

     I just wanted to post a few thoughts on tomorrow's game before I go to sleep. This game should be very exciting in my opinion.  In spite of the 11 am cst kickoff time, I have a feeling the crowd will be raucous.  I feel fairly certain that there will be plenty of Tiger fans crashing the midnight yell practice of the Aggies.  That will could make for an interesting atmosphere before and during the game.  Anyways, LSU will have to make some big plays early to take the home crowd out of it.  In particular, the LSU DE's, Mingo and Montgomery, must maintain containment on Manziel.  On top of that, I think Eric Reid must have a spectacular game like he did against South Carolina in order for LSU to contain the Aggie offense.  I found a great article that sums up the approach to stopping the Aggie offense here.  When LSU is on offense, they will need to establish the run game much like the USC game last week.  Also the receivers need to continue to catch passes and move the chains on third downs.  Mettenberger had a much improved game last week and I would like to see him build on that.

     Two hidden keys that I think will give great insight as to how this game will end up are:  1) if you see Les Miles with a play chart in his hands on the sideline and 2) the play calling on offense of the second series for LSU.  If you see the first item and the second item seems to flow/feed off of the first series then LSU will cruise to a victory over TAMU.  However, if you don't see number 1 then be warry.  And if you don't see number 2 then it will be a long day for the Tigers.

     I have a feeling we will see both of those things listed tomorrow and LSU will rack up another impressive performance stat wise, the scoreboard may not indicate that same. My prediction:

LSU 24  TAMU 17  (late td by TAMU makes it close)

This week's locks are in!

     That's right, Coach Bourque has picked his winners against the spread for week 8 of the college football season.  This is his first installment so his official record will start at 0-0, but some can already attest to the many winners he has picked throughout the season so far. You can see his selections on his page by clicking the tab at the top of this web page, or click here.  Good luck to everyone on their picks.

We Have A New Contributor....

     A new member to the KB3 sports blog;  my dad Steve.  We will be making college football picks against the spread weekly.  These picks will be listed under the tab "Coach Bourque's Locks Of The Week."  We will try to get these picks in early enough in the week so our viewers can potentially play the movement in Vegas spreads to their advantage. I will also try to keep up with his overall record on picks along with a running tally of units wagered. Look for this new feature early next week, around Monday or Tuesday.

A few quick thoughts on the upcoming USC @ LSU game

     First off I have to say I am a little worried about this game.  I do like the fact that it's a home game for LSU and on top of that it's a night game. I do like the fact that USC rarely puts together consecutive great performances; USC has only won once in Death Valley at night (1984); also like the fact that Les Miles has only lost back to back games once in his entire career. However, I am still very concerned about the health and pass blocking ability of LSU's offensive line/RB picking up blitzes. Combine that with a very good Defensive line of USC and that begins to spell trouble in my mind. And once you add on a mobile QB that USC has; I think that could spell disaster late in the game for LSU.  Much like the Florida game, the ability to run the ball (both designed runs with RB and QB and the ability to scramble with the QB) and run it well will wear down the LSU front 7 especially late in the game.

     The more I think about it the more I start to believe that points will certainly come at a premium in this game.  I'm thinking a score somewhere around 17-14 type points. Maybe lower.  Not sure what the Vegas over/under is for this game but I would advise to put the money on the under.

     For LSU to be able to win this game, I feel that the field position battle will be the biggest and most important throughout the game.  Brad Wing must out punt the USC punter. To help in this battle, the LSU offense must get at least one first down at least every other possession in order to maintain good field position.  Of course LSU must take full advantage of good field position and score TD's when deep in the red zone, but in the end multiple FG's may win this game.

     In order to do all of that, LSU will need to have very manageable third downs and distances.  Somewhere around 3rd and 3 or less. I think with this down and distance it isn't quite necessary to pass.  With an established running game, this can open up to many different looks and plays that should help keep the defense on their heels.

     To be able to set up a 3rd and 3 yards or shorter, LSU must gain at least 7 yards on the first two downs combined.  There are many different ways to accomplish this, however I feel that utilizing screens, TE's down the seam, bubble screens to WR's, draw plays, and misdirections will greatly help in opening up the power run game between the tackles.  And of course that leads to the very most important aspect and that is establishing a power run game between the tackles.  Every available RB will need to rotate in to accomplish all of this.

    When it comes to LSU on defense, I'm not nearly as concerned. If the offense can execute their game plan then the defense will have time to rest between possessions. With a rested defense, keeping contain on Lattimore and Shaw is possible.  And besides, John Chavis is about as consistent and reliable of a defensive coordinator as you can get.   I feel very comfortable saying he finds a way to hold USC to under 20 points definitely and probably under 17.

     So there you have it folks.  The players that will win this game for LSU are Brad Wing and whichever defensive player can create a turnover deep in USC territory.  No pressure guys, time to let loose and have fun.  Just win baby!

It's been too long

     Way too long since I've posted last. In fact the college football landscape has changed drastically since then. Florida State was once considered a strong team to de-throne the mighty SEC. However NC State had other things in mind. USC was certainly pre-season champs until they got knocked off by Stanford. Of course Stanford was defeated by Washington and Washington was crushed by LSU. Nothing new to see here, just the same ole SEC > Pac12 segment of college football.
     Well, onto more recent events.  LSU host South Carolina this weekend in Death Valley. This should be a great match up of two great defenses. Scoring will most likely come at a premium. I like many others feel that it might be time for Coach Les Miles to let loose a little with the offensive play calling. It certainly seems that the routes receivers run are very vanilla (i.e. not many crossing routes, slants, posts, etc) and on top of everything else they rarely try to get the ball in the hands of Russell Shepard. I personally we have Shepard on the field about 90% of the offensive plays and he would be in motion on roughly 75% of those plays. I would make the defense adjust to his presence on the field. And I would like to include more jet sweeps to him just to get him the ball out of the backfield.
     I said it last week and I'll say it again this week: This will be a close ball game and LSU will have to do whatever it can to pull out the victory. I feel a fake fg/punt or go for it on fourth down type game coming up. As heart-stopping as those moments can be during the game, they sure to add tons of excitement. Regardless, I can't wait for kickoff. Geaux Tigers!!!

Worth Reading

     I would like to share a couple articles on LSU Football and one on college football in general, written by Kris Brauner on his blog, Saturday Night Slant.

     This article is about a few things he would like to change in the sport of college football.  It is entirely about recruiting and scholarships, and a great read if you're interested in that area.  He brings up some very good points on oversigning and a way to possibly eliminate it altogether.

     The next two articles take a look at future QB's and the current QB's on the roster.  He gives a very good breakdown of the current qb situation and what LSU fans have to look forward to in the coming season.

     All I know is, I am ready for football season to begin already!