So Arkansas, was "Death Valley Over-rated in 2011" ?

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A lot has been made of the fact that this game takes place in "Death Valley", which is believed to be one of the tougher locations for visiting teams.
Perhaps that's true over long stretches of time.
But has Tiger Stadium been that helpful to LSU this season?

LSU is 5-0 at Tiger Stadium this season, and the wins were all blowouts.
Let's take a look at those games.

First home game:
LSU beats Northwestern State 49-3
NSU is an FCS team with a losing record this season. In addition, their QB for that game was making his second ever start in a college football game.

Second home game:
LSU beats Kentucky 35-7
Kentucky is 4-7 on the season. Here is where Kentucky ranks in the SEC this season in some key categories:
Total Offense: Last
Passing Offense: Last
Passing Efficiency: Last
Scoring Offense: Last
Despite being a three year starter, Morgan Newton has never thrown for even 800 yards in a season.

Third home game:
LSU beats Florida 41-11
This certainly seems like a good victory until you recall that Brantly was injured. Jacoby Brissett made his first ever career start in this game. The results were typical of such a scenario.

Fourth home game:
LSU beats Auburn 45-10
Yet again LSU faces a rookie quarterback making his first career start. Clint Moseley was overwhelmed and couldn't keep the chains moving for Auburn.

Fifth home game:
LSU beats Western Kentucky 42-9
This was actually LSU's best victory at home this season. They beat a very good WKU squad (who managed to hold the game at 14-7 by halftime). However, WKU is a rushing team. They are second in the Sun Belt in rushing offense behind future NFL back Bobby Rainey (currently leading the nation in rushing, in case you didn't know). But they are among the worst in the nation in passing offense (#102) and passing efficieny (#98).

LSU's only victory against a talented passing offense was their road win over West Virginia. In that game, Geno Smith (playing in only his fourth game in a brand new offense) threw for 463 yards on the Tigers. Unfortunately for West Virginia, they turned the ball over four times, which turned into 14 points for LSU, and the Mountaineers couldn't overcome the resultant big early lead.

In LSU's other road games, they faced:
-Horizontal spread team Oregon (four turnovers, three leading to scores)
-Direct-snap fullback Chris Relf of Mississippi, who has since been benched for his backup QB
-Tennessee, with Matt Simms making his first start of the season (funny how LSU keeps running into that)
-Run heavy Alabama, which features a competent, but unspectacular game manager at QB
-And Ole Miss, home of the QB-Killa himself

In summation:
All season long, LSU has not faced a powerful downfield passing attack which features an experienced Quarterback playing in a known system, with the momentum of a season full of games behind him. Their vaunted pass defense is a fraud. They have spent the whole season playing against rookie quarterbacks and dysfunctional offenses. They have no idea what is going to hit them on Friday.

Arkansas wins big
Hogs 32
LSU 17

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