[Quality88]

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- It's not so much schematic magic at Louisiana State.
Sure, the top-ranked Tigers -- who visit the 17th-ranked University of Kentucky today -- know how to rain all over offensive fireworks.
But it's not so much the X's and O's that put a stop to those shows.
"They do a lot of things that give a lot of people problems -- that's why they're the No. 1 team in the nation," UK football coach Rich Brooks said. "I don't believe it's quite as much what they do, it's who they're doing it with." Case in point: LSU (6-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) boasts a fantastic front four -- ends Tyson Jackson and Kirston Pittman and tackles Glenn Dorsey and Marlon Favorite -- that all might end up in the NFL.
Its three linebackers -- Luke Sanders, Darry Beckwith and Ali Highsmith -- are pro prospects, too. The secondary is full of size and strength and boasts playmakers such as safety Craig Steltz, a 6-foot-2 209-pounder who has four interceptions.
As UK offensive coordinator Joker Phillips put it, "Their X's and O's are a lot bigger than most people's."
And yet, as the Wildcats (5-1, 1-1) prepare for their most difficult challenge of the season, UK's offense isn't so worried about an LSU pass rush that has 20 sacks.
The Tigers' 37 tackles for loss? The 16 turnovers they've generated? Not a big concern.
The Cats figure their offense is its own worst enemy.
"We have not been stopped at all, I don't think," Phillips said. "But we have shot ourselves in the foot with penalties, with interceptions, with fumbles."
That might sound like a bold statement, especially coming off last Thursday's 38-23 loss to South Carolina in which the Cats mustered only two offensive touchdowns and allowed quarterback Andre' Woodson to be sacked five times.
Apparently, though, it'll take more than that to rattle the Cats.
"We actually got more confidence watching the film" of the South Carolina game, Woodson said.
That's because the Cats were able to move the ball against a Gamecocks defense that entered the game ranked No. 1 in the Football Bowl Subdivision against the pass, throwing for 227 yards and rushing for 157 more.
Two Woodson fumbles turned into South Carolina touchdowns. On his way to an easy touchdown, tailback Rafael Little lost control of the football and forced the Cats to kick a field goal.
"We just killed ourselves with turnovers, killed ourselves with missed assignments and pass protections, killed ourselves with running the wrong routes or running the wrong direction with the halfbacks," Woodson said. "All of us made big mistakes in that game, but we still continued to move the ball."
Hence the confidence.
But moving the ball today might prove considerably more challenging. LSU allows 197.8 yards per game, the only team in the FBS giving up fewer than 200 per game.
LSU ranks first in the SEC in sacks, and if UK is to have any hope of upsetting the Tigers, it will have to push their defensive line away from Woodson, who struggled when South Carolina defenders forced him into quick decisions.
"(LSU's) is probably the best front four in the nation, probably the best a lot of us have ever seen," UK offensive lineman Zipp Duncan said. "They're fast, aggressive, they play tough. It's a special opportunity for us to go out and prove ourselves."
Dorsey is the primary measuring stick. ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper ranks the 6-2, 303-pound senior as the No. 1 player on his 2008 draft board.
"Dorsey is a force unlike any I've seen in a long, long time on the interior of a college defensive line," Brooks said. "He's a special player."
And it will take a special effort from UK today to overcome Dorsey and the rest of the Tigers' defense. LSU coach Les Miles doesn't expect his team to look past UK -- not with a 5-1 start and an offense that scored 40 or more points in each of its first five games.
"We're going to have to play well," Miles said. "We understand they're a very talented opponent. We like the matchup. We certainly think that some of the things we do will give them problems, but we're going to have to go play well."
The Cats will have to play almost perfectly. That means keeping the heat off Woodson and keeping the ball out of the hands of LSU defenders.
"There's not a different formula for (LSU)," Phillips said. "They're lining up the way everybody else lines up. They're just lining up with bigger people, stronger people, faster people. There's definitely some plays to be made on them. Nobody's made them to this point, but we feel like if we execute, we can."

Cats gird their loins for LSU's defense