Gametime: 1:00 pm

Records: LSU: 9-3 (5-3); Penn State: 10-2 (5-2)

Series Record: Penn State leads, 1-0

TV: ABC

Audio: Here

Penn State defense vs. LSU offense:

Ahh yes, the immovable object versus the other immovable object.

Okay so maybe that's an exaggeration because Penn State's defense isn't quite that good, and LSU's offense isn't "immovable" bad, but still, they're close.

The teams are in different conferences, so weigh these stats yourself, but Penn State is in the top 3 in the conference in scoring defense, rushing and passing defense and total defense. LSU, on the other hand, is in the bottom three in their conference when it comes to scoring offense, rushing offense and total offense.

It's not exactly strength versus strength.

LSU has had trouble all over the field when the offense has been out there. They've had shaky quarterback play at times, they've battled injuries at the running back position, they've allowed the most sacks in the conference and, in clutch situations, spiked the ball instead of running a play.

Charles Scott, LSU's leading rusher, missed the last three games of the season but may be making his return in the bowl. That should be a bit of a boost for LSU as their other running backs are also injured and they may have been forced to start their 4th string guy. Unfortunately for whoever starts for LSU, they're still going to be running into one of Penn State's strengths: that nasty defensive line.

Scott may be back, but he'll face a tough task. Mostly this guy:

Jared Odrick will be there, eating up your double-teams, and stuffing the run.  We're hoping he has a huge game to justify his post-season awards that the fans of other teams just haven't been able to handle.

When Odrick can't get it done there's a more than capable cast supporting him. Latimore, Ogbu and Crawford had their fair share of TFL's this season and played well stopping the run and as usual, Penn State has a more than capable staff of linebackers with Bowman, Lee and Hull. It's going to be a tough go for whoever is running the ball for LSU as they try and gain yards against a PSU defense that has allowed less than 100 yards rushing per game.

As for the passing game, it's another item that hasn't exactly been spectacular for LSU.  Don't get us wrong, they weren't "bottom three in the conference" bad, which is how we measure everything, but they were still pretty bad. Ninth in a conference of twelve bad. 180 yards per game, bad.

But to be fair, they do play against some pretty good defensive teams. Any time you have to play against Florida and Alabama, the season stats may become a little skewed.

LSU has been passing for just about as many yards per game as PSU has been giving up -- somewhere in the 180 ypg range.

By the way, we're getting our stats here.

While their passing game hasn't been spectacular this year, we think it's going to be other parts of their game that really create problems for them when it come to passing.  We don't expect LSU to be able to move the ball on the ground all that well, which should allow PSU to commit to attacking quarterback Jordan Jefferson.  LSU has allowed a fairly high numbers of sacks this year (33), so getting pressure into the backfield hasn't exactly been a problem for opposing teams.

Another thing PSU does well? Get sacks. They had 35 this season.

Overall, we're pretty sure its going to be a rough day for LSU moving the ball.  On the ground they're going to have a hard time dealing with just the PSU front seven, allowing the secondary to concentrate on the receivers. When they decide to throw, we're confident enough in the Lion secondary to shut things down, and the front seven to put enough pressure on Jordan Jefferson to make him make some bad decisions.

PSU offense vs. LSU defense:

As rough as it might be for LSU to move the ball on the Lions' D, it could be equally as hard for Penn State to get things rolling offensively against the Tigers.  They gave up an average of 16 points a game, good for third in the SEC.

While the Tigers were seemingly good at keeping points off the board for their opponents, they did give up a solid amount of yardage in 2009.  They were fourth in the conference in rushing defense, but the number is 134 yards a game, which isn't stellar.  On the other hand, Alabama was the only squad in the SEC to hold teams under 100 yards per game on the ground.  Either way, Drake Nevis and the LSU line will have to step up to stop a Penn State running attack that started to find its way during the second half of the season.

Can this man eat up the rushing attack?

LSU gave up 192 yards a game through the air, which was pretty close to what PSU surrendered.  Chad Jones is a good playmaker lurking at safety, so Daryll Clark will have to be aware of him at all times.

When we first found out about this matchup, we immediately thought of LSU's defense, and how hard it would be for this PSU offense to move the ball.  Especially since this hasn't exactly been the most consistent year for that offense.  But the more we thought about things and looked at the numbers, we started to feel a bit better about Penn State's chances.

Case in point: one thing that LSU did not do very well this season was put pressure on the passer.  They had just 20 sacks on the year.  If the O-line plays up to their potential and gives Clark time to throw, he could pick apart the LSU D.  A lot of QBs are at their worst when they're under a lot of pressure, but it was especially true this year with Clark.  But give him time, and he's an excellent quarterback.

As for the running game, while we don't think it will be as key as the passing game, it will be necessary to take some pressure off of Clark.  Royster, Green and the O-line should feel like they have something to prove, and going out and putting up 120+ yards against an SEC defense would be a good way of proving it.  We think Penn State could pull this one out without a great day on the ground, but it would be a lot harder.

But truthfully, this one comes down to Clark.  It's his last game, and while we're not completely buying into the fact that this one game will define his legacy, it certainly won't hurt him in the memory of fans if he goes out and has an outstanding performance.  If the O-line keeps the pressure relatively in check, we don't see why he won't perform well.

The Tigers gave up 95 points over their last four games, and they gave up an average of 326 yards of offense on the year.  If Penn State puts up that much offense, we think they'll come out on top.

We hope we see this pose often tomorrow.

With injuries at the tailback position, it's going to put a lot of pressure on Jordan Jefferson to win this game for LSU.  Charles Scott, LSU's leading rusher, is questionable with a broken collarbone and to make matters worse, two backups Keiland Williams and Richard Murphy are doubtful.

Jefferson finished the season strong with a 9-3 TD-INT ratio in his last three games, games which included a loss to Alabama and that heartbreaker against Mississippi.

A lot of what happens for LSU's weak offense is going to be reliant on Jefferson's performance.  Odrick and the rest of the Penn State defensive line are going to cause plenty of trouble for their offense, especially with the lack of a starting running back.

Penn State Player(s) To Watch: Daryll Clark

3 Bold Predictions:

• Announcers will gush about LSU's speed in the pre-game.
• Clark throws and runs for a TD.
• Jared Odrick has three sacks.

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