Five reasons why Appalachian State won’t be so lucky this time

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By Marie V. Roussel

The kickoff to the 2008 football season begins in just three days, and the hype could not be bigger. After an emotional, exciting national championship run, the No.7 Fighting Tigers of LSU are about to embark on what all of the Tiger faithful hopes to be another winning year.

For the Purple and Gold, the season opener is usually and always the “unofficial give-away game.” You know, it is that segue from the spring game to the reality of the SEC. Yet, this season may be a bit different.

Some and most see this home opener as the test to see how strong LSU is after losing some of their most important players and leaders. Others may be timid over this match between the Tigers and Appalachian State, especially after considering how the Mountaineers cursed college football last season by upsetting the highly favored Michigan Wolverines 34-32 at home.

Yet, I can assure all of the LSU fans out there that their luck runs out come August 30. Be afraid Appalachian State, be very afraid. A new season is a new beginning, and here is a list of five reasons as to why the Mountaineers will return home defeated by the defending national champions of college football.

5) LSU: Defending National Champions

Although the AP thinks the Tigers are only worthy of a No.7 ranking while Ohio State is unfairly sitting pretty at No. 2, the image of another devastating blow-out championship game to a certain Big Ten school is still vivid in my mind.

Although they will never admit to it, I’m sure the ranking is a bit unsettling to coach Les Miles and the team. So, as a result; expect the home opener to be a huge victory. The Tigers have a reputation to defend and maintain, and a loss to Appalachian State would be catastrophic and would make all of college football turn around and say, “I told you so.”

4) LSU has a history of blowing out inferior competition

The Tigers have not always been the epitome of perfection in college football, but over the last few seasons “domination” seems to be the word that suits our program best. Many schools fear that their team will underestimate a Football Championship Series (1-AA) opponent, but LSU fans should not have to worry about this, and here’s why:

2005: LSU 56 – North Texas 3, LSU 24 – Appalachian State 0

2006: LSU 45 – ULL 3

2007: LSU 44 – Middle Tennessee – 0

Now, don’t even get me started on all the wins over Tulane and Mississippi State because I am not paid to write novels here, so I think you get the picture.

3) Tigers > Mountaineers

It is sort of a cheesy reason, but valid nonetheless. Mountaineer? Seriously, that is just as bad as a Buckeye. At least a buckeye is poisonous though, a mountaineer – someone who climbs mountains – real scary. Besides being in great shape and wilderness friendly, Tigers can still eat you, and that is exactly what will happen at 4 p.m. this Saturday.

2) This is Death Valley, not the Big House

Last year, the ferocious Mountaineers did the unpredictable, they beat the currently No.5 Michigan Wolverines in the infamous Big House, home of 107,501 fans. Although Tiger Stadium holds a modest 92,000, size is meaningless. Every Saturday during the fall, the finest monument in Baton Rouge plays home to the rowdiest, craziest, loudest, relentless, proudest fans in the nation. Even ESPN agrees. Just a year ago, the awe of Tiger Stadium was named No.1 on the list of scariest venues for opposing teams. I guess the alias known as Death Valley is appropriate after all. Also, for the record, The Big House of Michigan was not even on the list.

1) SEC rules college football

No matter how strong the facts are, some people still defend Notre Dame, Ohio State, Michigan and USC as the colleges that will always be better than the SEC, no matter how badly LSU or any other SEC school beats them. It is really baffling, especially when the evidence is overwhelming.

For one, the SEC has the most representation in the NFL. Secondly, almost every SEC school played in a bowl game last year. Third, the preseason rankings list six SEC schools in the Top 25 – No.1 Georgia, No.5 Florida, No.7 LSU, No. 10 Auburn, No. 18 Tennessee and No.24 Alabama. So welcome to our life, Appalachian State; it is a bit more complex than you can probably imagine.

So, for all you worry warts out there, which I hope is a small percentage, chill because this game against Appalachian State will not be disastrous. It will be glorious, just like last football season.

Originally Published: Issue 702 - August 27, 2008

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