Geaux Irish!

Notre Dame has received an invitation to play in the Sugar Bowl against the LSU Tigers. The Irish come into this game with all the marbles against them. This is the first Sugar Bowl to be played in New Orleans since Katrina, and they are playing the home state darlings. To make matters worse, LSU is ranked number four in the BCS standings. The odds are stacked against an ND win, which is the fire from which the metal of Irish lore has been forged. Perhaps January 3 will mark another great chapter in Irish history.

As for LSU, they feature a great offense and an even better defense. Their offense averages 404.2 yards per game while their defense allows just 238.8, which makes them second in the country in total defense.

LSU has a solid rushing offense that averages 159.17 yards per game. Jacob Hester is the Tigers leading rusher but averages just 34.58 yards rushing per game. However, LSU's rushing offense is very balanced and four Tigers have carried the ball more than 40 times this year.

Passing the ball is LSU's offesnive forte. JaMarcus Russell is third in the country in quarterback efficiency and eighteenth in total offense. Three of his receivers, Dwayne Bowe, Craig Davis, and Earl Doucet, are in the top 100 nationally in receptions per game. This could be problematic for ND's secondary, which has struggled.

The LSU defense is in the top four nationally against both the run and the pass. They allow 12.5 points per game, which ranks fourth nationally, as well. Their leading tackler LaRon Landry with 68, and Tyson Jackson leads them in sacks with 6. Craig Steltz has 4 interceptions to pace LSU.

Overall, this is a very interesting match-up. It remains to be seen whether LSU really has a great defense or do they merely benefit from playing in a poor offensive conference. The very good Notre Dame offense should negate LSU's defensive strength, so the winner of this game will likely be decided when ND has the ball. ND's defensive secondary must step up if ND is to have a chance to win. That is unlikely to happen, which makes this just the type of game that ND has historically won. There is no good reason to pick ND, so I am picking them to win the game 31-24.