As a treat for college football fans, it only will take until Week 2 of the season for a matchup of top-10 teams.
No. 9 Virginia Tech, which struggled past East Carolina 17-7 in an emotional home opener for the Hokies, travels to Baton Rouge, arguably the toughest place to play in the country, to face No. 2 LSU in the game of the week on Saturday night. The Tigers rolled past Mississippi State 45-0 in their opener.
The theme of this early season potential BCS knockout game? Defense. Both teams return eight defensive starters from last year, when Virginia Tech ranked first in the country in total defense and LSU third.
You can bet that the Tigers (-12.5 on WagerWeb.com) will force Hokies QB inconsistent Sean Glennon to beat them. Glennon was solid but not great against East Carolina, but the Hokies' top offensive threat is running back Brandon Ore. Expect LSU to stack 8 in the box to make sure Ore doesn't get going. LSU also has one of the best defensive fronts in the nation, led by defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey.
Meanwhile, LSU QB Matt Flynn wasn't great in the Tigers' opener, but he has more big-play offensive threats than Glennon in receiver Early Doucet and running backs Jacob Hester, Keiland Williams and Charles Scott. However, Virginia Tech has one of the best linebacker tandems in the country in Vince Hall and Xavier Adibi.
So where to look? Many times in such an expected defensive battle, special teams is the difference. Virginia Tech always has one of the best special teams units in the country, as Coach Frank Beamer makes that a priority. On the same token, Doucet and Trindon Holliday are two of the better return men in the game for LSU. The kickers? Well, they?re kickers, so we won't go there.
So with everything nearly even, let's go to a few numbers: Virginia Tech is 1-4 all-time when facing the second-ranked team in the AP poll, while the Tigers have won 13 in a row in Baton Rouge since losing to Tennessee on Sept. 26, 2005. During that run, LSU has scored at least 45 points six times and given up an average of only 9.5.
The Tigers won't score anywhere near 45 points in this game, but they may not even reach 9.5 themselves. Look for a close LSU victory (and the under) thanks to homefield advantage, but look for Virginia Tech to cover.
Information from other news sources was used in this story
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