Top OOC Games of 2007: #1 Virginia Tech at LSU

#1 Virginia Tech at LSU This, my friends will be the best and most important out of conference game of the 2007 football season when the Hokies and the Tigers face-off on September 8th. From the preseason magazines I have read, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that both teams will be ranked in the Top 15, maybe even Top 10 by this game in the second week. With that ranking hype, National Title implications for the game will be brought forth. Most importantly LSU lost its leader and QB when JaMarcus Russell bolted for the NFL, but I don't think it will be as big of a drop off when Matt Flynn takes center stage. Remember it was Flynn that led the Tigers over Miami in the Peach Bowl two seasons ago. He looked impressive doing so. Behind him will be two running backs Keiland Williams and Richard Murphy, but don't count out last year's leading rusher Jacob Hester. At WR, the Tigers lost Bowe and Craig Davis so Early Doucet will have to pick up the slack along with someone else. On defense LSU looks tough as they return 3 linebackers, 2 cornerbacks, and 3 defensive linemen. They are going to be tough to score on. The Hokies need to find a way to erase the memories of their collapse in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. Many questions arose around their starting quarterback but it looks as if Sean Glennon will still be the man for the Hokies. Fortunately for him, he still has Branden Ore, who ran for 1,137 yards and 16 touchdowns last season, to hand the ball to. The Hokies are also deep at receiver with Josh Morgan, Justin Harper, Eddie Royal and Josh Hyman all returning. On defense once again Virginia Tech will be good. Like LSU they have a lot returning on the defensive line and in the secondary, but they have to sure up their linebackers a little bit. Finally, the one thing that I cannot forget to mention is the play of the special teams for the Hokies. That play has won them a lot of games over the years. Looking at these teams on paper I think that this is going to be a low scoring slugfest with the winning team only scoring around 17 points. Overall I think that the play of Matt Flynn will be much better than Sean Glennon and that could prove to be the difference in the game. Also I believe that defensively the Tigers are a little better off. So I will go with the Tigers right now by a few.