BATON ROUGE — LSU continued to prepare for Saturday’s home opener against The Citadel with a two-hour practice in the rain here Wednesday at the Charles McClendon Practice Facility.
The Tigers, who are ranked No. 23 in the nation in the coaches poll and No. 24 by the Associated Press, will workout again on Thursday followed by a walk-thru in Tiger Stadium on Friday. Kickoff for Saturday’s game is set for 7 p.m. in Tiger Stadium.
“It’s been a short week and the staff has really had to put some overtime in this week to try to get ready for this game,” LSU coach Nick Saban said after Wednesday’s practice. “The players have responded fairly well to the short week. They practiced pretty well today. I thought the intensity, focus and concentration were all good.
“We stayed out in the rain today, which is something we rarely do. I think it has hurt us in the past when we’ve had to play in the bad weather so hopefully the players will get used to the wet ball. That is certainly something that has affected the offense in the past and maybe staying outside today will help us.”
Saban said the LSU defense has used this week to focus on a variety of things that The Citadel may do on Saturday.
“They do a lot of different things on offense and have a lot of different formations,” Saban said. “We are not sure with a different quarterback if they will do what they did in the past, so we are preparing for a lot of different things.”
The Citadel is expected to start senior Jeff Klein at quarterback. Klein, a transfer from Auburn, will be making his third appearance in Tiger Stadium. Klein played one series against LSU in 1999 and in last year’s SEC Western Division title game.
Saban said that starting center Ben Wilkerson (ankle) and starting tight end Eric Edwards (foot) both sat out practice with injuries. Neither player has practiced this week and their status for Saturday’s game will be determined on Thursday.