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Adams: Gorilla limped out of Jungle for title bout
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NEW ORLEANS — LSU linebacker Ali Highsmith doesn’t pretend to know much about Big Ten football. He doesn’t have time for it.
Don’t blame him. Blame the competition.
“The SEC gets all my focus,” he said.
So he rarely looks beyond the conference boundaries in the fall. He doesn’t read about college football in general and doesn’t watch ESPN.
He’s too consumed with what it takes to win the SEC, which LSU did a month ago in Atlanta.
“Our nickname for the SEC is ‘The Jungle,’ ” Highsmith said Friday during an interview session, advancing Monday night’s national championship game between LSU and Big Ten champion Ohio State.
“To get out of The Jungle, you’ve got to be a gorilla.”
This gorilla limped out.
LSU beat Tennessee in the SEC championship game without its starting quarterback, Matt Flynn, and had to play the second half without All-American defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey.
Dorsey, who suffered knee and lower-back injuries during the course of the season, heads up any list of LSU’s walking wounded. But most of the nation’s third-ranked defense was nicked, strained and bruised by the end of its 13th game.
That’s why the month off between the SEC and national championship games has been so crucial for LSU.
And that’s why its defensive game plan for the Buckeyes should be as simple as two words: “Be healthy.”
That’s been a familiar scenario under third-year LSU defensive coordinator Bo Pelini, who will begin his head-coaching career at Nebraska after the national championship game.
Pelini, who coached nine years in the NFL, isn’t particularly generous with playing time for backups. And his starters pride themselves in staying on the field.
“We condition ourselves for it,” Highsmith said.
Dorsey is a limping example of that.
In the second half of the season, you often wondered if he were physically capable of getting in his stance, much less shedding a blocker on the way to a ball carrier. If he could stand, he seemingly could play.
Dorsey insists he’s in better shape than at anytime since preseason. Or, as he put it Thursday, “I’m ready to roll.”
His injuries were the most serious to the defense. Other key members of the SEC’s best defense also struggled to cross the regular-season finish line.
All-American strong safety Craig Steltz played most of the season with a toe injury. End Tyson Jackson played the last few games with a bad back. Linebacker Darry Beckwith had multiple injuries.
No one goes through the SEC pain-free. But since LSU entrusts less playing time to backups, its front-line defenders probably suffer above-average wear and tear.
Conversely, they also might benefit more than any other defense from a month between games. You could say the same for the offense, based on LSU’s bowl record under coach Les Miles.
The Tigers ended the 2005 season with a 40-3 rout of Miami in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. They capped the 2006 season by drubbing Notre Dame 41-14.
“The rest before the bowl has a lot to do with that,” Highsmith said. “You get a little bit faster. You have time to nourish your wounds.”
Highsmith also has had time to complete a cram course in Big Ten football, or at least the Ohio State offense.
“They’re a pro-style, smash-mouth offense,” he said.
But after a month’s layoff from The Jungle, LSU’s defense should be healthy enough to smash back.
Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knews.com.
© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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Posted by msdyb on January 4, 2008 at 12:15 a.m. (Suggest removal)
What the HECK is THIS article all about! If I wanted to read ANYTHING about LSU I would go to THEIR web site! I have GoVolsxtra as my HOME page for 1 specific reason. It is SUPPOSED TO BE mainly about UT and the Vols!
I hope that Adams did NOT GET PAID for THIS CRAPPY ARTICLE!
Posted by why36knot on January 4, 2008 at 1:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Adams is always off somewhere writing about something that no one is iterested in.
If you think this is a pontless piece you should have read what he wrote a few years back during Mike Dubose's departure from Alabama.
At least this time he doesn't insinuate that he has some "inside " information and doesn't quote "sources inside the program". I also don't see a silly joke in this one either so I quess I should ignore it altogether.
Posted by Singaporehillbilly on January 4, 2008 at 8:27 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Sorry Adams, but your team will not win the crawfish bowl. Besides, now that Kansas dispatched of VT and has only one (1) loss, they should get the AP #1 if Ohio St is upset.
Posted by VolnDothan on January 4, 2008 at 8:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The national championship game this season is an absolute farce. There is no way that OSU and LSU are the two best teams in the land. No way.
Posted by nicksjuzunk on January 4, 2008 at 10:15 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Singaporehillbilly:
I never thought about Kansas. This should get messy.
In other news, Britney Spears was just carried out of her home on a stretcher after arguing over custody rights with her ex-husband. What the heck has happened to her?
Posted by Hunter on January 4, 2008 at 11:24 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Geaux Tigers, Adams! Oh, wait, you write for the KNOXVILLE News Sentinel, not the Baton Rouge Advocate!
If you would like to move there, I am sure I can get a moving crew together just from posters to this site in no time at all. Won't even charge......
Posted by CrankE on January 4, 2008 at 11:25 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Re: Britney
Did the gorilla limp out of that jungle?
Posted by DadwasaVol on January 4, 2008 at 12:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
They're not interested in LSU, not interested in the article, yet they did go ahead and read the article, then stated they didn't want to read it. Again, who is forcing anyone to read Adams' columns? If you don't like Adams' columns, go read something else.
Posted by pdhuff on January 4, 2008 at 3:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
He could have written about the Ball St vs Rutgers International Bowl.
Posted by CrankE on January 4, 2008 at 4:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Adams just might be the gorilla that limped out of Louisiana and onto the sportspage at KNS. The immovable object.
Posted by lempga on January 5, 2008 at 12:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Adams is a chimp, not a gorilla. He is in a jungle and does not know his way out. Chimp, take I-75 south to Chattanooga and get on I-24 towards Nashvile, then get on I-65 South and when you get to Birmingham, roll down the window and follow the odor to the LA Coast. And when you get there, please stay.
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE KNOXVILLE JOURNAL.
Chattanooga Free-Press for me until chimp swings through the vines and leaves town.
Posted by anance_pt on January 5, 2008 at 9:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)
i think the correct phrase is "nurse" your wounds, not "nourish" your wounds. i think that Ali Highsmith got a little confused.
Posted by elsinoresam on January 5, 2008 at 10:59 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Once again Adams presents us with a tale of his beloved alma mater. There are at least two of these every year. Geaux Home John.
Posted by johnlg00 on January 5, 2008 at 11:25 a.m. (Suggest removal)
OK, let me try to explain something here. Adams is often, for better or worse, the only source we Vol-centered fans have for info on other teams in the SEC. I for one have usually enjoyed his take on other SEC teams. LSU, whom we narrowly lost to in the SEC championship game, is representing the the SEC in the national championship game. I hope they kick OSU right off the field, just like Florida did last year. Once again, the better other SEC teams do in out-of-conference games, the better the Vols look. I don't get how any UT fan cannot get behind other SEC teams when they are playing outside the conference. As for Kansas as #1, they played only THREE teams with winning records all year and lost to one of them. They had a great year, especially by their usual standards, but there is NO WAY they should be considered for the national championship over the LSU-OSU winner.
Posted by johnlg00 on January 5, 2008 at 1:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Also, re: Kansas, although they played a good game against VA Tech, it would not have been close except that the VT offensive staff inexplicably fell in love with the pass when they were running all over Kansas. When they ran, they marched right down the field; when they passed, they got sacks, penalties, and turnovers. It is seldom a good idea to change philosophies in the middle of a game, such as UT apparently did at times in the Outback Bowl--and it almost cost us as well.
Posted by billwall on January 5, 2008 at 2:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I think Ga, LSU, and USC are all better than OSU
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