By Chris Macaluso
LSU Sports.net
(9/11/00)
LSU Football Coach Nick Saban said in his weekly media luncheon Monday he believes both of his team’s wins in the first two games of the season were tests his team passed.
This week the Tigers will study for test No. 3 as they hit the road to take on Southeastern Conference rival Auburn Saturday in LSU’s conference opener.
“We’ve had two tests and at times we’ve done well and at times we’ve left a little to be desired,” Saban said. “I think everybody, coaches included, need to improve on how we can help our players develop more consistency and play better.”
Saban’s comments came in the wake of a 28-13 victory over the University of Houston last Saturday in which LSU scored 21 points on the Cougar defense in the second quarter, but failed to score again until Tiger defensive back Damien James returned an interception for a touchdown with less than a minute to play.
“Technically, there were a lot of things we didn’t take advantage of and there were a lot of things that we made mistakes on that we need to fix and get better” Saban said. “Hopefully this is a process that our players will learn from. And I think it’s a good thing that we had to compete, we had to overcome some adversity and we won.”
Looking to add some more adversity to LSU’s season are the Auburn Tigers, who also come into Saturday’s game with wins in their first two games. Auburn opened conference play last week with 35-27 win over Ole Miss in Oxford, Miss.
The power to overcome the higher ranked Ole Miss Rebels in their stadium came from Auburn junior running back Rudi Johnson, who rushed for 165 yards and two touchdowns. Johnson is averaging a SEC best 165 yards per game and leads the league with five touchdowns.
“Auburn’s got good football players and a good football team,” Saban said. “It’s going to take a much better effort on our part to go on the road and play well against a team like they have.”
That effort from LSU will have to come without Tiger starting offensive tackle Trey Langley who will miss the rest of the season with a torn knee ligament. Langley is scheduled to have surgery sometime in the next two weeks.
Saban said the injury to Langley will give another Tiger an opportunity to show he belongs in a starting role on a team that still has a lot to show.
“I think every game is a test,” Saban said. “We’re a 3-8 team until we prove something else. We’ve only been able to win three SEC games in the last two years. So, I think we’ve got a lot of proving to do.”
Saturday’s game will be televised live by ESPN at 6:30 CDT. It marks the fifth straight season the cable network has televised this highly competitive SEC rivalry.