By Joey Papania
LSUsports.net
BATON ROUGE — When the LSU Tigers take the field Dec. 29 in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, it will signify a number of first time experiences for this young football team.
The Tigers will be playing their first bowl game since a 27-9 victory over Notre Dame in the 1997 Independence Bowl. This will also mark the first game for LSU played indoors since a 1996 Peach Bowl appearance. And it will be the first time an LSU team has played on artificial turf since a 7-6 victory over Vanderbilt in Nashville during the 1997 season.
Perhaps the biggest dilemma for this year’s team is the lack of players with experience playing in bowl games, in a dome, or on artificial turf.
The LSU roster going into Atlanta contains only 10 seniors (11 if you count offensive lineman Trey Langley who suffered a season ending injury).
In fact, only three Tigers saw action in 1997 when the Tigers played on turf, and no Tiger has seen action in a domed facility. Fullback Tommy Banks, defensive back Fred Booker, and offensive lineman Louis Williams are the only Tigers to see action in all 11 games of the 1997 season.
Luckily for the team, LSU is one of only a handful of schools in college with a full 100-yard indoor, climate-controlled football practice facility. In the spring of 1998, a state-of-the-art turf was installed, and, to simulate game conditions, the surface is crowned in the middle and all lighting is located on the sides of the field.
“I think everybody has become used to playing on turf the first couple days of practice,” Banks said. “I think everyone has adjusted, and we will be ready to play come game time.”
Originally, head coach Nick Saban and staff planned on practicing outdoors last week. However, due to poor weather conditions, the Tigers were forced to practice indoors.
The obvious advantage of the artificial surface is the increase in speed and cutting ability.
“I believe it will play a positive role for us,” said LSU wide out Reggie Robinson. “The coaches were commenting the other day about how much better I have been cutting on the turf.”
For a Tiger team that has stretched the field offensively this season, the possibilities of faster wide receivers with better cuts and breaks on the ball has quarterback Josh Booty ready to play.
“It’s going to be fun,” Booty said. “It will almost be like playing in your living room. All you have to worry about is what they are doing on defense and what you are doing on offense and go play football. We have some guys that will really benefit from playing on turf, Domanick Davis, Josh Reed and Devery Henderson.”
Davis, LSU’s return specialist, is still looking for his first return of the season, either punt or kickoff. He leads the Tigers with 1435 all-purpose yards, an average of 130.5 yards per game. Reed, a First-Team All-SEC pick led the conference in receiving yards per game with 102.5 per game. Of Reed’s 10 TD receptions this season, four have been 45 yards or longer, including a 75-yard score against Auburn.
The sophomore has registered six 100-yard receiving games already this season.
Henderson is a true freshman with unbelievable speed. Some of his teammates have nicknamed the young back “speed limit.” In his first collegiate season, he has rushed for 116 yards on 23 carries for a 5.0 average.
All three of the players Booty mentioned have shown an amazing ability to cut on natural grass. Look for the Tigers to try and utilize these skill players for big plays come Dec. 29.
One of the negative aspects of the turf is that Georgia Tech will be playing on the same surface. The Yellow Jackets bring to the Peach Bowl one of the most explosive offenses in the country. They are averaging over 435 yards of total offense per game, 271.1 yards in the air.
“They’re real good,” LSU defensive back Lionel Thomas said of Georgia Tech. “They may have one of the best receiving corps in the nation, but as a defensive back that’s what you want. You always want to go against the best to see how good you are. This is the best setting for it.”
The Tigers will have their chance in less than a week’s time. What the 2000 Tigers have already accomplished exceeds most, if not all, preseason expectations. But head coach Nick Saban has posed the question whether the team is satisfied with where they are, or whether they want to prove, on a national level, that they belong with the nation’s elite.
“The players were really getting into the practices, and we are trying to approach this like we are getting ready to play one game,” Saban said. “We don’t have any SEC standings to worry about, we don’t have a race in the West to distract us, and this is not really a big rivalry game for us in our league. We’re not going to be playing in Tiger Stadium, so we just have the challenge of playing on a national scene, a major bowl game, and prove that we belong.”