News of the day, 10/16

Hey everyone. This week is still so messy for everyone involved. The team took Sunday off because they didn't get home until 4 a.m., which totally messed me up. Sundays are big informational days for me. I've had to chase people around all week. I know you care deeply about that.

Today is Tuesday which means, of course, that you get your weekly dose of "Tuesdays With Tommy" installment. He was more boring than usual today. Also caught a few quotes from Brandon Cox. He's growing a fumanchu beard thingy now to cover up his six-stitch laceration. Interesting.

I also snagged the defensive numbers you all clamor for every week. I'm hoping to get a little scoring matrix together for your viewing pleasure. A lot of people want to know how the kids are scored and, honestly, I have no idea. I will have an idea soon. I can't seem to find Travaris Robinson. He's my hook-up there.

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Here is your weekly "Tuesdays with Tommy" synopsis:

*On the LSU game: "It's a game that has picked up a lot of interest. It's always and interesting game."

*On LSU's loss at Kentucky: "They had a slip-up last week, but we all know how that is."

*On the offensive problems: "We need to change our mentality offensively."

*On this being a big game: "For big games like this, we seem to play better."

*On still emphasizing contact in practice: "We're still in this youth movement of getting guys ready to play."

*On the secret to road wins: "When you go on the road, you have to almost be perfect. If you look back at last week at how we coached and played, it was pretty close to being perfect."

*On Merrill Johnson: "Merrill's playing. He's good. He could have played more (at Arkansas), but he didn't know the gameplan."

*On Ryan Pugh's status: "He said he's going to practice tomorrow, but that might be stretching it."

*On Quentin Groves' status: "Q practiced. The guys ahead of him are playing awfully well."

*On the urge to simplify things for the young OLs: "YOu can't really simplify what we do on the offensive line. It's pretty complex. We don't make many mental errors, though."

*On LSU: "The weaknesses have not been evident."

*On giving his team Sunday off: "We needed a day off. I noticed it last week. We weren't as physically spent as we were mentally."

-----BRANDON COX-----

*On his ability to thrive in the two-minute offense: "It's not a very complicated two-minute system."

*On the significance of this weekend: "This is going to be the turning point of the season."

*On the outside-the-stadium scene at LSU in 2005: "It was bad."

Here are your top defensive producers from the Arkansas game game. Players are given points for doing significant things correctly. They are docked points for missing assignments, missing tackles, penalties or loafing:

FROM ARK GAME:
CB Jerraud "Jerrard" Powers -- 22
LB Craig Stevens -- 22
LB Tray Blackmon -- 22
DE Antonio Coleman -- 20
DE Sen'Derrick Marks -- 10
CB Jae Wilhite -- 13
LB Chris Evans -- 13
DT Pat Sims -- 9
S Zac Etheridge -- 9

SEASON OVERALL:
Evans -- 129
Powers -- 128
Etheridge -- 119
Marks -- 110
CB Pat Lee -- 108
Coleman -- 107
DE Quentin Groves -- 79

NUMBER OF DOUBLE-DIGIT PRODUCTION GAMES:
none -- 7 (Etheridge broke his streak this week)
Etheridge, Marks, Coleman, Powers -- 6
Lee, Evans, Stevens -- 5
S Aairon Savage, Groves, Sims -- 3

Here are your team defensive goals for the AU-Arkansas game.

Win: YES, 9-7
Allow 13 pts or less: YES, 7
Allow 3.3 yards per carry or less: YES, 2.7
Allow 5.0 yards per pass or less: YES, 4.7
Create at least 3 turnovers: NO, 1
Allow no big plays (defined as 15+ rush or 20+ pass): NO on run (1); NO on pass (1)
Allow no TDs inside "red area": YES
Force opponent to convert less than 30% on 3rd down: YES, 24%

Vanderbilt's YAC (yards after catch) number was 40.

Here are your top players from the Arkansas based on number of snaps:

Jerraud Powers, Zac Etheridge -- 55
Eric Brock -- 54
Chris Evans -- 52
Pat Lee -- 51
Craig Stevens -- 48
Tray Blackmon -- 46
Antonio Coleman -- 44
Josh Thompson -- 40
Pat Sims -- 36