Troy

I think Pete Fiutak is one of the best college football analysts going.  He writes for College Football News, and he really takes it seriously.  So many analysts spend more time schmoozing sponsors than watching and researching football, but not Fiutak.  When he writes or says something, it's reliable enough to pay attention to.  The same cannot be said for the likes of Lee Corso or Mark Schlabach.  

Bruce Feldman is good too, but he's more of a big-picture guy and social analyst, while Fiutak gets into the nitty-gritty of analyzing a team's roster.

Anyway, Fiutak has his preview of LSU's Week 2 opponent Troy.  It's worthwhile reading for anyone who doesn't know as much about Troy as they'd like, which I imagine is just about every LSU fan.  The high points:

• Troy's offensive and defensive lines will be very good for a non-BCS team.
• Troy's skill position offensive players will be significantly downgraded from last year, when they pulled off an upset of Oklahoma State and pushed Florida, Arkansas, and Georgia.  In particular, they lost their really good quarterback, and don't have anyone who can come near his level of production behind him.
• Despite losing Leodis McKelvin to the 1st round of the NFL, and the starting cornerback opposite him as well, their defensive backfield will again be very good for a non-BCS team.

I know LSU is getting a lot of heat for its non-conference schedule, and I've written about it before.  Troy is a quality opponent and a quality program.  Oklahoma State found that out in spades last year, but Georgia, Florida and Arkansas also got tougher games than they wanted.  They may not be as good as they were last year, but they're good enough to give us trouble if we aren't sharp.