Welcome. What is up? A tremendous Thursday to you.

This has been a really busy week, what with The Biggest Non-Conference Game Of The Year coming up on Saturday.

I have lots of tidbits to empty from my notebook and e-mail inbox, so I’ll give you some now, some later.

Here goes ...

- Sergio Render now has a mohawk, which makes look almost exactly like WWE star Nelson Frazier Jr. (a.k.a Viscera).

- One item that I couldn’t squeeze into my Glenn Dorsey story today: Dorsey had a stress fracture in his shin last season that may have hurt his draft status. He said he came back to LSU to win a national title, but he was definitely hesistant about going into the draft banged up.

- Dorsey said he primarily lines up on the right side, which means he’ll line up against Tech left guards Richard Graham (St. Christopher’s School) and Matt Welsh.

- One thing that I couldn’t get into my story on Tech using some of the Titans’ plays: Quarterbacks coach Mike O’Cain said, in general, college coaches like to visit with NFL coaches who they know will be helpful. It comes in handy, O’Cain said, when you’re friendly with coaches on the NFL staff. In Tech’s case, O’Cain and line coach Curt Newsome are friends with Titans tight ends coach John Zernhelt, who was an assistant with Newsome at James Madison from 1999 to 2002.

- Tech has never played in front of a crowd as large as Tiger Stadium’s 92,400 whiskey-soaked Cajuns. “This may be louder than we’ve ever seen,“ Tech coach Frank Beamer said. To account for that, O’Cain and offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring have stressed to quarterback Sean Glennon the importance of moving around when he’s calling out the play, so all of Tech’s players can hear. “And they’ve stressed to the linemen, whatever you guys hear, relay it to the guy next to you,“ Glennon said. “Because I think it was once in the [Chick-fil-A] Bowl, three of the [linemen] were running one play and two guys were running another, just due to a lack of communication.“

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For those of you making the trip, here are some restaurant recommendations courtesy of Carl Dubois from The Advocate, Baton Rouge’s newspaper ...

—Mike Anderson’s seafood restaurant. Mike played at LSU in the early ‘70s and has a really good place. Our seafood tends to be more fried and spicy than what you’re probably used to, but it’s worth a try for the experience. Mike usually posts his game prediction on the restaurant sign near W. Lee Drive.
—TJ Ribs. It’s got wall-to-wall LSU memorabilia, including Shaq shoes, jerseys, photos and Billy Cannon’s actual Heisman Trophy (inside a glass case) near the lobby. There’s a team photo of an LSU baseball national championship team at the White House (1991 or 1993), and Joe DiMaggio is in the shot with them. Lots of good stuff, and the barbecue is usually good. They have the only cole slaw I’ll eat—ask for extra peanuts in it (I’m serious; it makes the cole slaw).
—The Chimes, on the outer edge of campus, has a huge selection of beer from all over the world, and great food, including seafood as good as any in the city. If you’re partial to seeing a lot of college girls while you eat and drink, this might be your place.

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Many thanks to Dubois for his help this week with background information on LSU. He was kind enough to pass along this Dorsey quote, which I believe came from SEC media days. The quote didn’t fit in my story, but I found it very interesting ...

“I’m playing for more than just myself, more than just for my team. That’s a lot to play for, but I’m playing for this 1-year-old girl in the bleachers with an LSU cheerleading outfit on: Don’t know what’s going on, but she’s out there cheering us on. When I’m tired I think about all that. I think about the 90-year-old guy who could be at home doing other things, but he’s out there supporting us, and it’s because they love LSU. I use that as motivation. When I’m tired, I can’t be tired, because they’re depending on me. I look forward to it. That’s why I love LSU so much, because our fans are genuine. They’re going to support us no matter what.“
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And a few more factoids from Dubois, before you begin to think he’s doing all of my legwork. When I was e-mailing with him about Jud Dunlevy’s inexperience, he dug up some great stats on how other opposing kickers have fared recently at Tiger Stadium.

Oregon State’s Alexis Serna missed three extra points in OSU’s 22-21 overtime loss in 2004. He was no slouch, either. He won the Lou Groza Award in 2005 as the nation’s best placekicker.

Auburn’s John Vaughn missed five of six field goals in a 20-17 overtime loss in 2005.

Serna’s last attempt ended the game by sailing wide right in the North end zone. Vaughn’s last attempt ended the game by hitting the left upright in the North end zone.

Georgia’s Billy Bennett was an early Groza candidate in 2003 before missing three field goals in a 17-10 loss at Tiger Stadium.

But wait, there are more ...

Arkansas’ Chris Balseiro missed two of three field goals in a 19-17 loss in 2005.

Mississippi’s Joshua Shene missed a 37-yarder in a 23-20 overtime loss in 2006.