I think first and foremost, we need to remember as fans to be respectful to the North Texas Mean Green. The Mean Green make their home in Denton, Texas, which is in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, which means it's right in the path of Hurricane Ike. For them to make the trip to Baton Rouge to play this game while their home is going to be battered is very sporting and resilient of them. We should all keep in mind to respect the sacrifices they're making to be here.
That said, they will be pounded into dust tonight, and we make no apologies for that. This is LSU's last dress rehearsal before the real season starts next week at Auburn. While we aren't going to show Auburn everything we have, we are definitely going to at least run the basic offense and practice the fundamentals of it. I think cgisclair is right when he says the following:
Look for LSU to treat this game like it were an SEC game. They will be able to pound the ball for 5-6 yards every play on the ground. But I think they will refrain from doing what they know will work best so that they can run the most realistic plays in an SEC setting.
Both quarterbacks will play extensively, I think. Both will be given a chance to prove themselves here, and it would not surprise me if the play of the quarterbacks in this game crystalizes the decision on who the primary QB will be. Of course, it also would not surprise me if we go into Auburn (and beyond) without really having the QB question settled.
None of that is to answer the burning question, however. How will I be spending my day:
Now - 11:30am: Various errands, playing with Little Miss ATVS, going out and picking up the new mattress Mrs. ATVS and I bought last night, cleaning the house, watching some TV, etc.
11:30am - 2:30pm: Undecided. I'll probably try to keep an eye on the UAB vs. Tennessee game on Raycom Sports, but the game holds little interest for me. I have no rooting interest in this game exactly, even though I generally root for SEC again non-SEC. I don't have a scouting interest because we do not play Tennessee or UAB this year. The game doesn't really even look all that interesting. Tennessee should blow out UAB, and the final score will tell us only what we already knew, and won't illuminate the things we do not know.
Like I said, I'll keep an eye on this game just to see if an upset is brewing or something, but I will not be "watching" this one. Not really anyway.
2:30pm - 6:00pm: Now here's a game I'm interested in. Georgia vs. South Carolina on CBS. We play both of these teams. Two weeks ago, I would have said this was a key SEC East matchup that would go a long way towards telling us the pecking order in that division. Now though, unless South Carolina makes a dramatic turnaround, we already know how these teams fall on the SEC East totem poll. South Carolina has looked pretty bad so far this year, while Georgia has looked dominant.
I never count a team out in SEC play because so much is unpredictable, but a Gamecock win would be a monumental upset. In any event, however, we will find out more about both teams by watching this game.
6:00pm - 7:00pm: I will be closely watching Auburn vs. Mississippi State on ESPN2. Yes, I know there's some sort of national contest on ABC at the time, but I don't care about national contests. Give me a choice between watching two teams we don't play later in the season and two teams we do play later in the season, the choice isn't hard.
7:00pm - 10:00pm: I get ESPN360.com so I can watch our game, which I will be doing.